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ILLUSTRIOUS  CAREER 

AND 

HEROIC  DEEDS  OF 
COLONEL  ROOSEVELT 

44  THE  INTELLECTUAL  GIANT." 

CONTAINING    A    FULL    ACCOUNT    OF     HIS    MARVELOUS    CAREER, 

HIS  EARLY    LIFE,  ADVENTURES  ON  A  WESTERN  RANCH  AMONG 

THE  COWBOYS ;  FAMOUS  LEADER  OF  THE  ROUGH  RIDERS ; 

PRESIDENT    OF    OUR    GREAT  COUNTRY;    HIS    WISE 

STATESMANSHIP,    MANLY    COURAGE, 

PATRIOTSM,    Etc.,   Etc. 

INCLUDING 

His  Famous  Adventures  in  the  Wilds  of  Africa 

IN  SEARCH  OF   LIONS,  RHINOCERI,  ELEPHANTS  AND   OTHER  FERO 
CIOUS    BEASTS    OF    THE    JUNGLE    AND    PLAIN;    JOURNEYS    IN 
UNKNOWN   LANDS    AND   MARVELOUS   DISCOVERIES, 

TOGETHER  WITH 

HIS  TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  AND    RECEPTIONS  BY 
THE  CROWNED  HEADS  OF  EUROPE 

By    JAY    HENRY    MOWBRAY,    Ph.D.,  LL.  D. 

The  Well- Known  Historian  and  Traveler. 


Embellished  with  a  Great  Number  of  Superb  Phototype  Engravings 


ENTERED    ACCORDING    TO    ACT    OF    CONORESS    IN    THE    YEAR  1t10,    »V 

GEO.  W.  BERTRON 

TMI   OFFICE    OF    THE    LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS,    AT    WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,    U.  ».   i 


PREFACE. 


T  T PON  Theodore  Roosevelt  have  been  bestowed  such  evidences 
^  of  world-wide  esteem  and  honors  as  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
no  other  one  of  America's  greatest  sons,  from  the  rolls  of  either 
the  living  or  the  dead. 

Washington,  Lincoln,  Grant !  These  only  are  worthy  of 
comparison  with  him.  Yet  full  recognition  of  the  majesty  of  the 
character  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  came  not  until  his  mortal 
spirit  had  passed  from  its  earthly  sphere  and  his  bones  were 
mouldering  in  the  dust. 

Lincoln  !  The  sublime  grandeur  of  his  character,  the  nobility 
of  his  personality,  the  purity  of  his  purposes  now  are  graven  upon 
the  stars ;  his  one-time  enemies  now  journey  to  his  tomb  and  pay 
homage  to  his  fame,  but  he  did  not  live  to  see  even  the  culmina 
tion  of  his  dreams  of  a  reunited  country,  much  less  the  universal 
realization  of  the  justice  of  his  aims. 

Grant !  No  word  of  mine  could  add  to  the  lustre  of  that  noble 
name,  great  warrior  and  statesman  as  he  was. 

But  Roosevelt !  No  flag  on  earth  but  dips  to  do  him  honor ; 
no  guns  but  thunder  to  his  fame. 

The  proudest  names  of  the  old  world ;  the  hautiest  descend 
ants  of  the  Caesars,  the  royal  sons  of  the  Vikings  of  the  North, 
the  Hapsburg  Emperor  from  the  throne  his  forefathers  held  when 
European  civilization  was  yet  in  its  infancy,  the  Kaiser  with  his 
embattled  hosts — all  vied  with  the  Executive  of  our  sister  republic 
beyond  the  seas  in  acclaiming  him  as  the  embodiment  of  govern 
ment  of,  for  and  by  the  people. 


fv  PREFACE. 

Palaces  emptied  to  join  his  proud  procession  from  the  heart 
of  the  African  jungle  through  the  courts  of  Europe,  till  at  last  his 
ship  should  cast  its  anchor  in  the  shadow  of  that  glorious  Liberty 
the  rays  from  whose  upraised  torch  have  spread  the  gospel  of 
hope  to  all  the  world. 

King,  Kaiser,  Emperor — all  greeted  him — as  an  equal,  shall 
I  say  ?  Nay,  as  a  superior,  for  more  than  royal  honors  were 
showered  upon  him  by  nations  which,  though  alien  in  race,  yet 
are  akin  to  us  in  recognition  of  our  INTELLECTUAL  AMERICAN 
GIANT.  What  brighter  laurel  can  I  weave  about  his  brow  ? 

Lawmaker,  Civil  Service  Commissioner,  Ranchman,  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Nav}',  Soldier,  Governor,  Vice-President,  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Nation,  Hunter,  and  now,  by  unanimous  ac 
claim,  the  World's  Commissioner  for  Peace. 

The  mere  recital  of  the  honors  that  have  come  to  him  tells 
the  story  better  than  words  of  mine  could  print. 

JAY   HENRY   MOWBRAY. 


INTRODUCTION 


Concerning  the  attitude  and  actions  of  a  single  man  some  ninety 
million  of  people  feel  a  vivid  interest.  There  has  never  before  been 
anything  like  it  in  the  history  of  our  Country.  What  is  Theodore 
Roosevelt  going  to  do?  For  what  ends  will  he  work?  In  aid  of 
what  existing  political  forces  will  his  great  strength  be  thrown? 

What  is  the  situation?  The  Democracy  is  as  it  has  been,  but 
with  no  one  recognized  leader  directing  its  course  and  dominant  in 
its  councils.  It  has  no  favorite  son.  There  is  no  distinctive  issue 
between  the  parties.  Democrats  and  Republicans  are  alike  divided 
as  to  the  tariff,  the  control  of  trusts,  and  the  policy  of  conservation. 

In  the  ranks  of  each  organization  are  many  men  who  are  con 
trolled  by  the  money  power.  In  the  ranks  of  each  are  a  host  who 
have  made  up  their  minds  that  present  conditions  are  wrong  and 
threatening,  and  can  and  must  be  improved.  They  feel  that  monop 
olies,  instead  of  controlling  the  government,  must  be  controlled. 
They  feel  that  we  must  not  yield  our  natural  resources  into  their 
grasping  hands.  They  feel  that  no  tariff  must  be  borne  of  a  nature 
to  enrich  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many. 

All  is  discussion  and  uncertainty.  The  Democracy  has  no  well- 
defined  idea;  the  Republican  party  is  so  wrenching  itself  into  two 
that  the  time  is  close  at  hand  when  the  "Insurgents"  may  become 
"Stampeders."  The  political  situation  is  confusing  and  threatening. 
It  is  that  of  a  quivering  sea  with  dark  storm-clouds  gathering. 

And,  in  this  situation,  all  eyes  are  turned  toward  one  man. 
There  is  no  other  looming  up  in  sight.  It  is  a  remarkable  thing, 
politically,  something  astounding.  The  nation  is  waiting  for  an 
expression  from  Roosevelt.  Everybody  knows  him.  He  was  our 
hired  man,  the  manager  of  our  business,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  a 
great  majority  of  the  American  people,  one  who  "made  good." 

They  are  familiar  with  his  record  everywhere.  They  know 
him  as  a  vigorous  ranchman  and  hunter;  they  know  him  as  a  civil- 
service  commissioner,  making  a  new  system  strong  and  effective  j 

y 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

they  know  him  as  rampant  in  the  Navy  Department,  hastening 
equipment  and  orders,  and  giving  Dewey  the  battle  of  Manila;  they 
know  him  as  police  commissioner  of  New  York,  startling  that  gang- 
ridden  city  by  an  enforcement  of  the  law;  and  as  Governor  of  the 
greatest  State  in  the  Union,  where  he  was  a  Governor  in  fact.  And, 
above  all,  they  know  him  as  President  of  the  United  States  for  seven 
years,  when  great  governmental  policies  were  inaugurated,  and  great 
things  were  done. 

Yes,  everybody  knows  Roosevelt.  He  is  the  Best-known  man 
in  the  world.  All  know  his  strength,  his  character,  and  his  way  of 
doing  things.  Even  his  impulsiveness,  sometimes  almost  boyish 
ness,  are  a  source  of  loving  regard  in  the  hearts  of  his  people.  What 
the  British  have  designated  as  "his  robust  sense  and  downrightness  " 
may  overflow  at  times.  He  is  honestly  careless  of  how  an  action 
may  be  construed,  if  he  thinks  such  action  right.  He  has  keen 
perceptions,  and  openly  expresses  himself. 

Bitter  enemies  he  has,  of  course.  The  "Trusts"  and  their 
organs  hate  him  as  the  wolf  hates  the  wolf-hound.  Why  not  ? 
They  do  not  want  the  tariff  revised,  the  public  lands  conserved,  or 
any  obstacle  cast  in  the  way  of  the  corporations  who  have  seized 
upon  so  much,  and  are  seeking  more.  They  know  the  attitude  of 
the  man!  Their  newspapers  are  venomous  toward  him;  but  daily 
their  columns  are  filled  with  details  of  his  words  and  movements. 

They  suffer  this  because  they  must.  Their  readers  want  to 
know  all  about  "Teddy."  What  a  triumph  is  this!  A  private 
citizen,  traveling  abroad  with  his  family,  commanding  more  attention 
in  the  columns  of  thousands  of  newspapers  than  is  devoted  to  any 
rther  one  subject — world  enterprises,  earthquakes,  wars  and  rumors 
of  wars.  iWhat  could  better  illustrate  the  man's  status  among  men? 

Roosevelt  has  returned  from  abroad,  and  what  has  he  found? 
The  tariff  pledges  of  his  party,  in  the  estimation  of  millions  of  that 
party,  are  unfulfilled.  His  policies  have  been  disregarded;  conser 
vation  is  neglected;  and  the  "big  trusts"  are  ruling  our  country. 
He  sees  all  this,  and  who  can  doubt  but  that  his  heart  is  hot  within 
him?  ,  What  is  he  going  to  do  about  it? 

The  country  is  heaving  with  political  possibilities,  but  no  probabil- 


INTRODUCTION.  vH 

ities,  outside  of  Roosevelt.  They  are  the  upliftings  of  lava.  The  seeth 
ing  mass  is  rising  into  a  mountain.  The  split  in  the  dominant  party — the 
deep  crack  in  the  crust — must  widen,  for  a  principle  is  at  stake  for  the 
maintenance  of  which  there  will  be  a  mighty  struggle — the  principle 
enunciated  by  Lincoln  at  Gettysburg — "a  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people;"  a  form  of  government  to  which  great"  Trusts  and  interests" 
within  the  party  are  opposed. 

The  same  forces  exist  in  the  Democratic  party.  And  where  is  the 
leader  in  either  party  who  can  direct  in  the  emergency?  What  great 
Republican  or  Democrat  exists  who  is  fitted  for  this  emergency,  the  issue 
of  which  may  be  a  determination  of  the  country's  future  course  in  the  law- 
making  which,  sooner  or  later,  affects  all  individually?  There  is  none! 

What  will  happen  politically  between  now  and  the  next  Pres 
idential  election?  Already  there  is  a  rumble  inside  the  growing  moun 
tain,  and  very  general  belief  that  the  top  is  going  off  when  the  explosion 
comes!  And  why  not?  Do  we  not  desire  it?  Are  not  the  American 
people  hoping  for  the  thing  they  so  certainly  anticipate? 

What  will  Roosevelt  do?  There  is  before  him  the  opportunity  of 
a  man  grandly  retired,  one  who  laid  down  the  presidency  of  a  glorious 
republic  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  known  and  well  known  of  all  men,  one 
who  can  live  out  his  life's  allotted  span  serenely  and  with  dignity,  with 
the  consciousness  of  a  great  work  well  done.  Will  that  be  Roosevelt's 
course?  As  well  expect  the  Niagara  River  to  go  to  sleep  at  Buffalo! 

Inaction  is  as  foreign  to  the  ex-President  as  it  is  to  Niagara.  His 
famous  club  fits  as  readily  in  his  hand  as  the  Irishman's  shillaleh;  and 
his  record  for  the  last  year,  especially  in  Europe,  is  sufficient  to  indicate 
that  the  Rooseveltian  blood  is  rushing  as  vigorously  as  ever,  and  that 
his  sympathies  and  impluses  are  as  strong.  But  it  is  not  lust  of  battle 
which  will  impel  him. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  duty,  and  there  are  occasions  when  to 
refuse  a  call  when  made  by  millions  of  people  in  an  emergency,  would 
be  wrong.  At  such  a  time,  if  a  man  knows  he  is  the  man  for  the 
place,  he  must  accept  the  place.  To  imagine  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  is 
not  familiar  with  every  drift  and  every  phase  of  the  political  situation 
in  this  country  would  be  absurd.  To  assume  that  he  is  not  anxious  and 
resolved  would  be  to  do  him  an  injustice.  Furthermore,  the  people  of 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

the  United  States  have  trusted  him,  and  done  him  vast  honor.  He  is 
indebted  to  them.  He  owes  them  service  still. 

He  has  been  reticent  since  his  retirement,  as  was  proper,  and  no 
one  knows  the  workings  of  his  active  mind.  His  reticence  was  made  a 
comparatively  easy  thing  because  of  absence;  but  silence — even  the 
silence  which  gives  consent — is  no  longer  possible  to  Colonel  Roosevelt. 
There  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  his  countrymen  may  insist  upon  giving 
him  more  work  to  do.  Legislation  is  a  great  and  essential  thing;  but 
administration  is  no  less  important,  administration  earnestly  suggestive 
and  vigorously  executed. 

Honesty,  force  of  character,  experience,  great  qualifications  all 
round,  are  required.  Experience?  What  experience  has  not  come  to 
one  twice  President,  dealing  with  subtle  questions  and  subtle  men  and 
honest  ones,  and  familiar  with  the  character  and  capacity,  and  aims,  of 
every  man  of  prominence  in  the  country?  Our  relations  abroad? 
Colonel  Roosevelt  has  met  the  great  rulers,  and  has  become  acquainted 
with  them.  He  and  they  have  "sized  each  other  up,"  and  his  plane  of 
relationship  with  them  is  different  from  that  of  any  other  American. 

A  knowledge  of  the  status  and  the  needs  of  all  great  public  enter 
prises,  the  Panama  Canal,  Irrigation,  Conservation,  and  all  the  rest. 
Who  else  should  know  as  well  their  requirements  as  the  man  who  de 
veloped  them?  Qualifications  for  the  task  of  the  Presidency?  Where 
or  when  was  ever  an  equipment  elsewhere  so  strong? 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  eyes  of  the  American  people  are  turned 
toward  Colonel  Roosevelt.  He  commands  their  gaze  in  the  emergency 
because  they  look  to  him  from  choice.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  a 
sometimes  tempestuous  personality,  all  the  world  recognizes  his  absolute 
honesty  of  purpose,  his  earnest  patriotism,  his  sound  common  sense,  his 
broadness  of  view,  and  his  stubborn  demand  for  what  is  fair  and  right. 

Where  will  his  course  lie?  what  hands  will  he  grasp?  are  the 
questions.  His  reputation  and  influence  have  no  bounds.  Something 
is  going  to  happen !  Theodore  Roosevelt  stands,  admittedly,  the  great- 
set  man  in  the  world  to-day. 


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CHAPTER  I 

ROOSEVELT'S   BIRTH  AND   EDUCATION. 

EIGHT  GENERATIONS  OF  KNICKERBOCKERS  —  QUALITY  OF  THE 
ROOSEVELT  STOCK— A  PALE  AND  DELICATE  BOY— FISHING  ON 
A  STEAMSHIP — PREPARING  FOR  COLLEGE — AMUSING  INCIDENT 
AT  THE  PREPARATORY  SCHOOL  —  FOND  OF  WRESTLING  AND 
BOXING — CAREER  AT  HARVARD — AN  ORIGINAL  CHARACTER — 
PARTIALITY  FOR  NATURAL  HISTORY — MEMBER  OF  MANY  CLUBS — 
His  IDEA  OF  A  GOOD  CITIZEN — ROOSEVELT'S  GRADUATION  AND 
TRIP  TO  EUROPE. 

T^HEODORH  ROOSEVELT  was  born  in  New  York  city  on 
1  October  27,  1858,  and  comes  from  a  family  that  for  genera 
tions  has  been  noted  for  wealth,  social  position,  high  intelligence, 
disinterested  public  spirit,  general  usefulness  and  philanthropy. 
The  list  of  his  ancestors  includes  many  who  were  distinguished  in 
public  life,  and  were  honored  for  their  sterling  qualities. 

He  is  a  Knickerbocker  of  the  Knickerbockers,  being  seventh 
in  descent  from  Klaas  Marten  sen  van  Roosevelt,  who,  with  his 
wife,  Jannetje  Samuels-Thomas,  emigrated  from  the  Netherlands 
to  New  Amsterdam  in  1649,  anc^  became  one  of  the  most  promi 
nent  and  prosperous  burghers  of  that  settlement.  For  two  and 
a  half  centuries  the  descendants  of  this  couple  have  flourished  in 
and  near  the  city  of  New  York,  maintaining  unimpaired  the  high 
social  standing  assumed  at  the  beginning,  and  by  thrift,  indus 
try  and  enterprise  adding  materially  to  the  wealth  acquired 
by  inheritance.  With  the  special  opportunities  for  distinction 
afforded  by  the  Revolution,  a  number  of  them  came  into  marked 
prominence. 

Just  previous  to  that  struggle,  and  during  its  earlier  years, 
Isaac  Roosevelt  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Provincial  Con 
gress.  Later  he  sat  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  for  several 
years  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  City  Council.  For  quite  a 

long  period  he  was  President  of  the  Bank  of  New  York.    Jacobus 
2— M.L.  17 

v 


18  ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

J.  Roosevelt,  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
was  born  in  1759,  gave  his  services  without  compensation  as  com 
missary  during  the  War  for  Independence.  A  brother  of  this 
Revolutionary  patriot,  Nicolas  J.  Roosevelt,  born  in  New  York 
city  in  1767,  was  an  inventor  of  ability,  and  an  associate  of  Robert 
L.  Livingston,  John  Stevens  and  Robert  Fulton  in  developing  the 
steamboat  and  steam  navigation. 

The  grandfather  of  Governor  Roosevelt,  Cornelius  van  Shaick 
Roosevelt,  born  in  New  York  city  in  1794,  was  an  importer  of 
hardware  and  plate  glass,  and  one  of  the  five  richest  men  in  the 
town.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chemical  Bank,  One 
of  his  brothers,  James  J.  Roosevelt,  was  a  warm  friend  and  ardent 
supporter  of  Andrew  Jackson ;  served  in  the  New  York  Legisla 
ture  and  in  Congress,  and  was  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
New  York  from  1851  to  1859. 

A  DISTINGUISHED  FAMILY. 

A  cousin,  James  Henry  Roosevelt,  was  distinguished  for  his 
philanthropies,  and  left  an  estate  of  a  million  dollars,  which,  by 
good  management,  was  doubled  in  value,  to  found  the  famous 
Roosevelt  Hospital  in  New  York  city.  Cornelius  V.  S.  Roosevelt 
married  Mary  Barnhill,  of  Philadelphia.  Of  their  six  sons  the 
Hon.  Robert  B.  Roosevelt  was  one  of  New  York's  most  distin 
guished  citizens,  served  in  Congress  and  also  as  a  United  States 
Minister  to  the  Netherlands. 

Theodore,  another  son,  born  in  New  York  city,  and  deceased 
in  1878,  was  the  father  of  President  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  mar 
ried  Martha  Bulloch,  who,  with  four  of  their  children,  survived 
him.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Sr.,  continued  in  the  business  founded 
by  his  father,  and  became  a  controlling  factor  in  the  plate  glass 
trade.  He  greatly  augmented  the  family  fortune,  and  at  his  deathV 
was  reputed  a  millionaire. 

Thus  President  Roosevelt  comes  from  a  distinguished  family. 
Good  stock  may  turn  out  to  be  poor  sometimes,  but  it  makes  a 
vast  difference  as  to  the  kind  of  blood  a  man  has  in  his  veins,  and 
good  stock  is  much  more  likely  to  turn  out  well  than  stock  of  the 


ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION.  19 

opposite  kind.  It  meant  something  to  be  a  Roosevelt.  More  was 
expected  of  every  member  of  the  family  than  would  have  been 
expected  of  anyone  with  a  name  less  honorable.  It  was  some 
advantage,  and  at  the  same  time  it  involved  a  good  deal  of  respon 
sibility,  to  be  connected  by  blood  and  birth  with  an  old  Knicker 
bocker  family  that  had  helped  for  generations  to  make  the  history 
of  New  York. 

It  was  the  Roosevelt  idea  that  a  boy  should  be  taught  to  run 
alone,  be  independent,  be  something  more  than  a  pampered  weak 
ling.  Money  was  intended  to  help  a  young  man,  not  to  handicap 
him.  Young  Theodore  might  have  lived  on  his  fortune  and 
made  his  life  one  of  sport  and  pleasure,  but  to  do  this  he  would 
have  had  to  be  something  besides  a  Roosevelt.  Such  an  aimless5 
empty,  worthless  career  would  have  been  contrary  to  all  the 
Roosevelt  family  history  and  achievements.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  the  self-made  men  should  all  be  poor.  It  is  possible 
to  become  great  in  spite  of  money. 

HIS  APPEARANCE  WHEN  A  BOY. 

Mr.  Ray  S.  Baker,  in  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  says  this  of 
his  boyhood :  "  As  a  young  boy  he  was  thin-shanked,  pale  and 
delicate,  giving  little  promise  of  the  amazing  vigor  of  his  later 
life.  To  avoid  the  rough  treatment  of  the  public  school,  he  was 
tutored  at  home,  also  attending  a  private  school  for  a  time — Cut 
ler's,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  its  day.  Most  of  his  summers 
and  in  fact  two-thirds  of  the  year,  he  spent  at  the  Roosevelt  farm 
near  Oyster  Bay,  then  almost  as  distant  in  time  from  New  York 
as  the  Adirondacks  now  are.  For  many  years  he  was  slow  to 
learn  and  not  strong  enough  to  join  in  the  play  of  other  boys  • 
but  as  he  grew  older  he  saw  that  if  he  ever  amounted  to  anything 
he  must  acquire  vigor  of  body.  With  characteristic  energy  he 
set  about  developing  himself.  He  swam,  he  rode,  he  ran;  he 
tramped  the  hills  back  of  the  bay,  for  pastime  studying  and  cata 
loguing  the  birds  native  to  his  neighborhood ;  and  thus  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  that  incomparable  physical  vigor  from  which 

rose  his  future  prowess  as  a  ranchman  and  hunter." 
H.B.G.— 4 


20  ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

At  the  age  of  eleven  years,  young  Roosevelt  made  a  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic  with  his  father.  A  boyhood  friend,  by  name 
George  Cromwell,  tells  several  amusing  incidents  of  the  Euro 
pean  voyage.  It  was  a  great  event  in  1869  to  cross  the  Atlantic, 
particularly  for  youngsters,  all  of  them  under  eleven  years  of  age. 

"As  I  remember  Theodore,"  recalls  Mr.  Cromwell,  "he  was 
a  tall,  thin  lad,  with  bright  eyes  and  legs  like  pipe-stems. 

"One  of  the  first  things  I  remember  about  him  on  that 
voyage  was,  that  after  the  ship  had  got  out  of  sight  of  land  he 
remarked,  half  to  himself,  as  he  glanced  at  the  water,  '  I  guess 
there  ought  to  be  a  good  many  fish  here.'  Then  an  idea  sud 
denly  struck  him,  and  turning  to  me  he  said :  *  George,  go  get 
me  a  small  rope  from  somewhere,  and  we'll  play  a  fishing  game.' 
I  don't  know  why  I  went  at  once  in  search  of  that  line,  without 
asking  why  he  didn't  go  himself;  but  I  went,  and  it  never 
occurred  to  me  to  put  the  question.  He  had  told  me  to  go,  and 
in  such  a  determined  way  that  it  settled  the  matter. 

A  MASTERLY  LEADER  FROM  BOYHOOD. 

"  Even  then  he  was  a  leader — a  masterful,  commanding  little 
fellow — who  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar  quality  of  his  own  of  mak 
ing  his  playmates  obey  him,  not  at  all  because  we  were  afraid,  but 
because  we  wanted  to,  and  somehow  felt  sure  we  would  have  a  good 
time  and  get  lots  of  fun  if  we  did  as  he  said. 

"  Well,  I  went  after  the  line  and  brought  it  to  him.  While  I 
was  gone  on  the  errand  he  had  thought  out  all  the  details  of  the 
fishing  game,  and  had  climbed  on  top  of  a  coiled  cable  ;  for,  of 
course,  he  was  to  be  the  fisherman, 

" '  Now,'  he  said,  as  I  handed  him  the  line,  '  all  you  fellows 
lie  down  flat  on  the  deck  here,  and  make  believe  to  swim  around 
like  fishes.  I'll  throw  one  end  of  the  line  down  to  you,  and  the 
first  fellow  that  catches  hold  of  it  is  a  fish  that  has  bit  my  hook. 
He  must  just  pull  as  hard  as  he  can,  and  if  he  pulls  me 
down  off  this  coil  of  rope,  why,  then  he  will  be  the  fisherman  and 
I  will  be  a  fish.  But  if  he  lets  go,  or  if  I  pull  him  up  here  off  the 
deck,  why  I  will  still  be  the  fisherman.  The  game  is  to  see  how 


ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION.  21 

many  fish  each  of  us  can  land  up  here.     The  one  who  catches  the 
most  fish  wins.' 

"  The  rest  of  us  lay  down  flat  on  our  stomachs,"  Mr.  Crom 
well  says,  in  continuation  of  his  narrative,  "  and  made  believe  to 
swim  ;  and  Theodore,  standing  above  us  on  the  coiled  cable,  threw 
down  one  end  of  his  line — a  thin  but  strong  rope.  If  I  remember 
correctly,  my  brother  was  the  first  fish  to  grasp  the  line — and  then 
commenced  a  mighty  struggle.  It  seemed  to  be  much  easier  for 
the  fish  to  pull  the  fisherman  down  than  for  the  fisherman  to  haul 
up  the  dead  weight  of  a  pretty  heavy  boy  lying  flat  on  the  deck 
below  him — and  I  tell  you  it  was  a  pretty  hard  struggle.  My 
brother  held  on  to  the  line  with  both  hands  and  wrapped  his  legs 
around  it,  grapevine  fashion.  Theodore  braced  his  feet  on  the 
coiled  cable,  stiffened  his  back,  shut  his  teeth  hard,  and  wound  his 
end  of  the  line  around  his  waist.  At  first  he  tried  by  sheer  mus 
cle  to  pull  the  fish  up — but  he  soon  found  it  was  hard  work  to  lift 
up  a  boy  about  as  heavy  as  himself. 

THE  FISH  CAUGHT  BY  STRATEGY. 

"  Then  another  bright  idea  struck  him.  He  pulled  less  and 
less,  and  at  last  ceased  trying  to  pull  at  all.  Of  course  the  fish 
thought  the  firsherman  was  tired  out,  and  he  commenced  to  pull, 
hoping  to  get  Theodore  down  on  deck.  He  didn't  succeed  at  first, 
and  pulled  all  the  harder.  He  rolled  over  on  his  back,  then  on 
his  side,  then  sat  up,  all  the  time  pulling  and  twisting  and  yanking 
at  the  line  in  every  possible  way;  and  that  was  just  what  Theodore 
hoped  the  fish  would  do.  You  see,  all  this  time,  while  my  brother 
was  using  his  strength,  Theodore  simply  stood  still,  braced  like 
steel,  and  let  him  tire  himself  out. 

"Before  very  long  the  fish  was  so  out  of  breath  that  he  couldn't 
pull  any  longer.  Besides,  the  thin  rope  had  cut  his  hands  and 
made  them  sore.  Then  the  fisherman  commenced  slowly  and 
steadily  to  pull  on  the  line,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  he  had  my 
brother  hauled  up  alongside  of  him  on  the  coil  of  cable." 

The  elder  Roosevelt  was  a  firm  believer  in  hard  work,  and 
made  this  a  part  of  the  science  he  knew  so  well — the  science  of 


22  ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

bringing  up  a  boy.     Although  a  man  of  wealth  and  position  he 
taught  his  children — the  four  of  them,  two  boys  and  two  girls — the 
virtue  of  labor,  and  pointed  with  the  finger  of  scorn  to  the  despic 
able  thing  called  man  who  lived  in  idleness.     With  such  teach 
ings  at  home,  it  is  no  wonder  that  Theodore  was  moved  to  declare: 
"  I  was  determined  as  a  boy  to  make  a  man  of  myself.  " 
His  vacation  days  and  little  outing  excursions  to  the  farms  of 
his  uncles  gave  the  boy  a  fondness  for  country  life,  which   found 
appreciation  in  later  j^ears  in  these  words: 

"  I  belong  as  much  to  the  country  as  to  the  city,  I  owe  all  my 
vigor  to  the  country." 

RESOLVED  TO  MAKE   SOMETHING  OF  HIMSELF. 

In  New  York  he  was  an  example  of  the  strong-spirited,  well- 
educated  young  Knickerbocker  of  the  better  class.  "  He  had  no 
need  to  work,"  says  a  writer  in  McClure's.  "  His  income  was 
ample  to  keep  him  in  comfort,  even  luxury,  all  his  life.  He  might 
spend  his  summers  in  Newport  and  his  winters  on  the  continent, 
and  possibly  win  some  fame  as  an  amateur  athlete  and  a  society 
man;  and  no  one  would  think  of  blaming  him,  nor  of  asking  more 
than  he  gave." 

Such  a  life,  however,  was  not  according  to  his  taste  or  the 
high  ideal  of  manhood  and  splendid  achievement  he  had  placed 
before  him.  He  was  not  a  dreamer,  not  a  builder  of  air-castles. 
Better  than  the  moderate  wealth  he  had  inherited  were  the  family 
traits,  the  strong  common  sense,  the  noble  purposes  and  true  ideas 
of  worldly  success,  which  were  as  much  a  part  of  him  as  his  fond 
ness  for  fun  and  athletic  sports.  Let  every  American  boy 
remember  Mr.  Roosevelt's  saying  that  in  early  life  he  resolved  to 
make  something  of  himself. 

He  attended  a  preparatory  school,  in  order  to  fit  himself  for 
entering  Harvard  College.  It  was  customary  with  the  teacher  in 
this  school  to  call  on  the  boys  for  declamations.  Theodore  at  that 
early  period  lacked  many  of  the  graces  of  oratory,  which  he  seems 
to  have  acquired  afterward ;  and,  like  most  boys,  when  he  was  the 
victim  of  embarrassment  his  memory  was  more  or  less  treacherous. 


ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION.  23 

Upon  one  occasion  he  was  called  upon  to  recite  the  poem 

beginning : 

"At  midnight,  in  his  guarded  tent 

The  Turk  lay  dreaming  of  the  hour 
When  Greece,  her  knee  in   suppliance  bent, 
Would  tremble  at  his  power." 

Theodore  arose  and  started  out  bravely.  With  all  the  nour 
ishes  of  boyish  energy  he  repeated  the  lines  as  far  as  "When 
Greece,  her  knee "  and  then  he  stopped. 

He  stammered,  shuffled  his  feet,  and  began  again  :  "  When 

Greece,  her  knee "  The  old  schoolmaster  leaned  forward,  and 

in  a  shrill  voice  said  :  "  Grease  'em  again,  Tedd}^  and  maybe  it 
will  go  then. "  And  Teddy,  with  his  usual  pluck,  tried  it  again 
with  marked  success. 

"  What  strong  direction  did  your  home  influence  take  in  your 
boyhood  ?  "  was  asked  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

"  Why,"  he  replied,  "  I  was  brought  up  with  the  constant 
injunction  to  be  active  and  industrious.  My  father — all  my  peo 
ple — held  that  no  one  had  a  right  to  merely  cumber  the  earth ; 
that  the  most  contemptible  of  created  beings  is  the  man  who  does 
nothing.  I  imbibed  the  idea  that  I  must  work  hard,  whether  at 
making  money  or  whatever  else. 

TAUGHT  THAT  HE  MUST  BE  A  WORKER. 

"  The  whole  family  training  taught  me  that  I  must  be  doing, 
must  be  working — and  at  decent  work.  I  made  my  health  what 
it  is.  I  determined  to  be  strong  and  well,  and  did  everything  to 
make  myself  so.  By  the  time  I  entered  Harvard  College  I  was 
able  to  take  my  part  in  whatever  sports  I  liked.  I  wrestled  and 
sparred  and  ran  a  great  deal  while  in  college,  and  though  I  never 
came  in  first  I  got  more  good  of  the  exercise  than  those  who  did, 
because  I  immensely  enjoyed  it  and  never  injured  myself. 

"  I  was  fond  of  wrestling  and  boxing  ;  I  think  I  was  a  good 
deal  of  a  wrestler,  and,  though  I  never  won  a  championship,  yet 
more  than  once  I  won  my  trial  heats  and  got  into  the  final  round. 
I  was  captain  of  my  polo  team  at  one  time,  but  since  I  left  college 


24  ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

I  have  taken  most  of  my  exercise  in  the  *  cow  country  '  or  moun 
tain  hunting." 

Theodore  Roosevelt  is  the  third  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity  to  hold  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  American  peo 
ple.  John  Adams  and  John  Quincy  Adams  were  graduated  from 
Harvard.  It  was  in  1825  when  J.  Q.  Adams  became  President. 
Now  comes  Roosevelt.  Roosevelt  entered  Harvard  in  1876, 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  His  work  in  college  was  char 
acterized  by  the  enthusiasm  and  earnestness  which  have  become 
known  to  all  the  people  as  dominant  traits  of  his  character  in 
public  life. 

When  he  came  to  the  Cambridge  college  he  was  a  slight  lad 
and  not  in  robust  health,  but  he  at  once  took  a  judicious  and  reg 
ular  interest  in  athletics,  and  in  a  little  while  the  effects  were 
apparent  in  his  stalwart  figure  and  redoubled  energy.  He 
wrestled  and  sparred  and  ran  a  great  deal,  but  never  indulging  in 
athletic  work  to  the  point  of  injury. 

EARNEST  AND  MATURE  STUDENT. 

In  his  studies  young  Roosevelt  was  looked  upon  "as  pecu 
liarly  earnest  and  mature  in  the  way  he  took  hold  of  things,"  as 
one  of  his  classmates  put  it.  Bx-Mayor  Josiah  Quincy,  of  Boston, 
who  was  in  college  with  Roosevelt,  says  of  him: 

"  He  exhibited  in  his  college  days  most  of  the  traits  of 
character  which  he  has  shown  in  after  years  and  on  the  larger 
stage  of  political  life.  In  appearance  and  manner  he  has  changed 
remarkably  little  in  twenty  years,  and  I  should  say  that  his  lead 
ing  characteristic  in  college  was  the  very  quality  of  strenuousness 
which  is  now  so  associated  with  his  public  character.  In  what 
ever  he  did  he  showed  unusual  energy,  and  the  same  aggressive 
earnestness  which  has  carried  so  far  in  later  life. 

"  He  exhibited  a  maturity  of  character,  if  not  of  intellectual 
development,  greater  than  that  of  most  of  his  classmates,  and  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  notable  members  of  the  class — as  one 
who  possessed  certain  qualities  of  leadership  and  of  popularity 
which  might  carry  him  far  in  the  days  to  come,  if  not  counter- 


ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION.  25 

balanced  by  impulsiveness  in  action  or  obstinacy  in  adhering  to 
his  own  ideas.  He  was  certainly  regarded  as  a  man  of  unusually 
good  fighting  qualities,  of  determination,  pluck  and  tenacity. 

"  If  his  classmates  had  been  asked  in  their  senior  year  to  pick 
out  the  one  member  of  the  class  who  would  be  best  adapted  for 
such  a  service  which  he  rendered  with  the  Rough  Riders  in  Cuba 
I  think  that,  almost  with  one  voice,  they  would  have  named 
Roosevelt.  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  in  many  respects  as  broad  and 
typical  an  American  as  the  country  has  produced." 

ORIGINAL  AND  SELF-RELIANT. 

Both  his  fellows  and  his  teachers  say  that  he  was  much  above 
the  average  as  a  student.  He  was  just  as  original,  just  as  reliant 
on  his  own  judgment  as  he  is  now.  In  a  mere  matter  of  opinion 
or  of  dogma  he  had  no  respect  for  an  instructor's  say-so  above  his 
own  convictions,  and  some  of  his  contemporaries  in  college  recall 
with  smiles  some  very  strenuous  discussions  with  teachers  in  which 
he  was  involved  by  his  habit  of  defending  his  own  convictions. 

At  graduation  he  was  one  of  the  comparatively  few  who  took 
honors,  his  subject  being  natural  history.  When  young  Roose 
velt  entered  college  he  developed  the  taste  for  hunting  and 
natural  history  which  has  since  led  him  so  often  and  so  far  through 
field  and  forest.  His  rifle  and  his  hunting  kit  were  the  most  con 
spicuous  things  in  his  room.  His  birds  he  mounted  himself. 

Live  turtles  and  insects  were  always  to  be  found  in  his  study, 
and  one  who  lived  in  the  house  with  him  at  the  time  recalls  well 
the  excitement  caused  by  a  particularly  large  turtle  sent  by  a 
friend  from  the  southern  seas,  which  got  out  of  its  box  one  night 
and  started  for  the  bathroom  in  search  for  water.  Although  well 
toward  the  top  as  a  student  he  still  had  his  full  share  of  the  gay 
rout  that  whiles  dull  care  away.  In  his  sophomore  year  he  was 
one  of  the  forty  men  in  his  class  who  belong  to  the  Institute  of  1770. 

In  his  senior  year  he  was  a  member  of  the  Porcelain,  the 
Alpha  Delta  Phi,  and  the  Hasty  Pudding  Clubs,  being  secretary 
of  the  last  named.  In  the  society  of  Boston  he  was  often  seen. 

Roosevelt's   membership  in   clubs    other  than  social  shows 


26  ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

conspicuously  the  kind  of  college  man  lie  was.  In  rowing,  base-ball 
and  foot-ball  he  was  an  earnest  champion,  but  never  a  prominent 
participant.  In  the  other  athletic  contests  he  was  often  seen.  It 
was  as  a  boxer  that  he  excelled.  Boxing  was  a  regular  feature  of 
the  Harvard  contests  of  that  day,  and  "  Teddy,"  as  he  was  uni 
versally  called,  was  the  winner  of  many  a  bout.  ' 

He  had  his  share  in  college  journalism.  During  his  senior 
year  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "Advocate."  Unlike  the 
other  editors,  he  was  not  himself  a  frequent  contributor. 

The  range  of  his  interests  is  shown  by  this  enumeration  of 
clubs  in  which  he  had  membership.  The  Natural  History  Society, 
of  which  he  was  vice-president;  the  Art  Club,  of  which  Professor 
Charles  Eliot  Norton  was  the  president;  the  Finance  Club,  the 
Glee  Club  (associate  member),  the  Harvard  Rifle  Corps,  the  O.  K. 
Society,  of  which  he  was  ti  ^asurer,  and  the  Harvard  Athletic 
Association,  of  which  he  was  steward. 

HIS  APPEARANCE  AT  GRADUATION. 

Roosevelt's  share  of  class-day  honors  was  membership  in  the 
class  committee.  All  who  knew  Roosevelt  in  his  college  days 
speak  of  him  as  dashing  and  picturesque  in  his  ways  and  hand 
some  appearance.  His  photograph,  taken  at  graduation,  shows 
no  moustache,  but  a  rather  generous  allowance  of  side  whiskers. 

Although  he  was  near-sighted,  and  wore  glasses  at  the  time, 
they  do  not  appear  in  the  photograph.  Maturity  and  sobriety  are 
the  most  evident  characteristics  of  th  e  countenance.  A  companion 
of  student  days  tells  a  story  to  shovi  that  the  future  President  did 
things  then  much  as  he  does  then  now.  A  horse  in  a  stable 
close  to  Roosevelt's  room  made  a  sudden  noise  one  night  which 
demanded  instant  attention.  Young  Roosevelt  was  in  bed  at  the 
time,  but  he  waited  not  for  daytime  clothes — nor  did  he  even  wait 
to  get  down  the  steps.  He  bounded  out  the  second-story  window, 
and  had  quieted  the  row  before  the  less  impetuous  neighbors 
arrived. 

It  was  while  in  college  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  his  his 
tory  of  the  American  Navy  in  the  War  of  1812.  This  volume 


ROOSEVELT'S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION.  27 

was  written  soon  after  leaving  college.  He  was  not  yet  twenty-four 
when  it  was  completed.  In  view  of  the  position  which  the  author 
afterward  held,  next  to  the  head  of  the  American  Navy,  the  preface, 
written  before  the  beginning  of  our  present  navy,  is  of  striking 
interest.  He  says  :  "At  present  people  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  it  is  folly  for  the  great  English-speaking  republic  to  rely  for 
defense  upon  a  navy  composed  partly  of  antiquated  hulks  and 
partly  of  new  vessels  rather  more  worthless  than  the  old." 

IDEAS  OF   PUBLIC  LIFE  AND   CITIZENSHIP. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  ideas  of  college  education,  and  the  results 
thereof  in  the  making  of  good  citizens,  are  well  denned  in  his 
admirable  essay  on  "College  and  Public  Life,"  written  for  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  in  which  he  says:  "The  first  great  question 
which  the  college  graduate  should  learn,  is  the  lesson  of  work 
rather  than  of  criticism.  College  men  must  learn  to  be  as  practi 
cal  in  politics  as  they  would  be  in  business  or  in  law.  A  college 
man  is  peculiarly  bound  to  keep  a  high  ideal  and  to  be  true  to  it ; 
but  he  must  \vork  in  practical  ways  to  try  to  realize  this  ideal,  and 
must  not  refuse  to  do  anything  because  he  cannot  get  anything. 
No  man  ever  learned  from  books  how  to  manage  a  governmental 
system."  Yet  he  never  disparaged  book  knowledge. 

He  says  further : 

"  This  obligation  (of  being  good,  active  citizens)  possibly  rests 
even  more  heavily  upon  men  of  means  ;  of  this  it  is  not  necessary 
now  to  speak.  The  men  of  mere  wealth  never  can  have,  and  never 
should  have,  the  capacity  for  doing  good  work  that  is  possessed 
by  the  men  of  exceptional  mental  training  ;  but  that  they  may 
become  both  a  laughing  stock  and  a  menace  to  the  community  is 
made  unpleasantly  apparent  by  that  portion  of  the  New  York 
business  and  social  world  which  is  most  in  evidence  in  the  papers. 

"Wrongs  should  .be  strenuously  and  fearlessly  denounced; 
evil  principles  and  evil  men  should  be  condemned.  The  politician 
who  cheats  or  swindles,  or  the  newspaper  man  v;ho  lies  in  any 
form,  should  be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  an  object  of  scorn  for  all 
honest  men." 


28  ROOSEVELT S  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION, 

In  giving  advice  to  college  men,  and  he  knew  whereof  he 
spoke,  he  denies  that  they  are  better  or  worse  than  men  who  have 
never  been  inside  the  walls  of  a  college,  while  their  responsibili 
ties  are  infinitely  greater. 

"The  worst  offense  that  can  be  committed  against  the  repub 
lic  is  the  offense  of  the  public  man  who  betrays  his  trust ;  but 
second  only  to  it  comes  the  offense  of  the  man  who  tries  to  per 
suade  others  that  an  honest  and  efficient  public  man  is  dishonest 
or  unworthy.  This  is  a  wrong  that  can  be  committed  in  a  great 
many  different  ways.  Downright  foul  abuse  may,  after  all,  be 
less  dangerous  than  incessant  misstatements,  sneers,  and  those 
half-truths  which  are  the  meanest  lies." 

HIS  LOFTY  AIMS  AND  PURPOSES. 

It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  pursue  a  college 
course  merely  to  gratify  some  ambitious  member  of  his  family 
who  wished  him  to  obtain  and  flourish  an  academic  degree.  Nor 
did  he  care  to  be  known  merely  as  an  educated  gentleman.  Neither 
did  he  count  the  friendships  and  pleasant  associations  of 
college  life  a  compensation  for  four  years  of  study.  He  had  a 
higher  purpose  in  view  than  to  be  able  merely  to  say  he  had  been 
through  college. 

He  was  a  student,  a  scholar,  an  athlete,  a  man  with  a  college 
degree  that  he  might  be  something  else.  His  education  was  only 
a  stepping-stone  to  those  grand  achievements  for  which  a  course 
of  study  would  help  to  prepare  him.  He  had  lofty  aims.  He 
wished  to  be  more  than  a  money  maker  or  a  money  spender.  He 
did  not  despise  wealth,  but  he  did  despise  the  base,  sordid,  vulgar 
use  of  it. 

"  Each  of  us  who  reads  the  Gettysburg  speech,"  he  writes,  "  or 
the  second  inaugural  address  of  the  greatest  American  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  or  who  studies  the  long  campaign  and  lofty  states 
manship  of  that  other  American  who  was  even  greater,  cannot  but 
feel  within  him  that  lift  toward  things  higher  and  nobler  which 
can  never  be  bestowed  by  the  enjoyment  of  material  prosperity." 


CHAPTER  II 
MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK   LEGISLATURE. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  RESOLVES  TO  ENTER  POLITICAL  LIFE — ELECTED 
ASSEMBLYMAN  BY  THE  MURRAY  HILL  DISTRICT  IN  NEW 
YORK— His  VIEWS  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP — DUTIES  OF  PUBLIC 
OFFICE — His  YOUTHFUL  APPEARANCE — ENEMY  OF  ALL  POLIT 
ICAL  ABUSES — WHAT  HE  THINKS  CONCERNING  "BOSSES"  AND 
"MACHINES" — EVERY  CITIZEN  EXPECTED  TO  BE  A  PATRIOT 
AND  Do  His  WHOLE  DUTY — CORRUPTION  IN  HIGH  PLACES — 
FRANK  TO  ADMIT  AN  ERROR— AUTHOR  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE 
LAW — ROOSEVELT  SNEERED  AT  AS  A  REFORMER— VICTORY 
IN  A  PERSONAL  ENCOUNTER. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  graduated  from  Harvard  University  in  1880, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  Returning  from  his  trip  to  Europe, 
he  began  the  study  of  law  with  his  uncle,  Robert  B.  Roosevelt.  He 
had  planned  to  write  a  history  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and 
was  more  engrossed  with  this,  which  was  work  congenial  to  his 
tastes,  than  he  was  with  dry  and  musty  law  books.  He  had  set 
his  face  toward  the  field  of  literature,  and  devoted  all  his  spare 
time  to  the  history  which  he  was  preparing  for  publication. 

The  Roosevelts  had  always  taken  great  interest  in  public 
affairs.  They  did  not  believe  a  man  could  be  a  good  citizen  with 
out  doing  this.  If  they  were  not  public  officials  they  had  a  voice 
in  making  them.  They  were  property  holders  and  voters.  They 
set  a  low  estimate  on  men  who  are  always  ready  to  cry  out  against 
public  evils  and  then  neglect  their  duty  at  primaries  and  the  polls. 
They  knew  that  municipal  government  is  always  what  the  citi 
zens  make  it,  and  if  decent,  honest  citizens  are  recreant  to  their 
sacred  trust,  bad  government  will  result,  and,  in  fact,  is  only  to  be 
expected.  This  has  been  the  history  of  all  legislation  from  time 
immemorial.  If  there  is  ever  any  improvement  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  public  affairs  it  must  come  from  the  citizens  themselves. 

Influenced  by  such  considerations,  young  Roosevelt  resolved 

29 


30  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK    LEGISLATURE. 

to  launch  into  politics.  He  had  the  commendable  example  of  a 
long  line  of  worthy  ancestors.  They  had  been  powerful  factors  in 
moulding  the  commercial  and  social  life  of  New  York.  His  ideas 
of  good  citizenship  had  come  to  him  as  a  kind  of  inheritance.  He 
did  not  have  to  sit  down  and  reason  himself  into  a  political  career. 
Being  a  Roosevelt,  he  was  expected,  of  course,  to  be  public  spir 
ited,  and  take  a  constant  interest  in  city  affairs  and  government. 

EVEEY  MAN  SHOULD  SHOW  HIS  COLORS. 

"  I  have  always  believed,"  he  has  said,  describing  his  entry 
into  the  political  field,  "  that  every  man  should  join  a  political 
organization  and  should  attend  the  primaries ;  that  he  should  not 
be  content  to  be  merely  governed,  but  should  do  his  part  of  that 
work.  So  after  leaving  college  I  went  to  the  local  political  head 
quarters,  attended  all  the  meetings,  and  took  my  part  in  whatever 
came  up.  There  arose  a  revolt  against  the  member  of  assembly 
from  that  district,  and  I  was  nominated  to  succeed  him,  and  was 
elected." 

What  could  be  expected  of  a  young  man  who  was  but  twenty- 
three  years  old  ?  Yet  he  was  not  held  back  from  active  effort  by 
what  the  great  English  statesman,  Pitt,  described,  in  words  of 
bitter  irony,  as  "  the  unpardonable  crime  of  being  a  young  man." 

When  the  famous  Jeremy  Taylor  went  to  his  bishop  to  obtain 
orders  as  a  clergyman,  the  bishop  looked  at  his  youthful  face  and 
figure,  shook  his  head,  and  said,  "  You  are  entirely  too  young." 
"  If  the  Lord  spares  my  life,"  quickly  responded  Taylor,  "  I  will 
remedy  that  little  matter."  The  reply  captivated  the  bishop  and 
carried  the  day.  The  callow  youth  was  ordained,  and  afterward 
became  the  celebrated  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  whose  brilliant 
discourses  and  writings  are  among  the  classics  of  English 
literature. 

There  was  something  about  Theodore  Roosevelt  that  indi 
cated  a  maturity  beyond  his  years.  When  he  spoke  he  had  some 
thing  to  say.  When  he  gave  an  opinion  it  appeared  to  come  from 
a  well-trained  judicial  mind.  He  soon  showed  himself  to  be  the 
deadly  enemy  of  all  political  abuses.  He  was  a  problem  on  the 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  31 

hands  of  men  of  a  different  character ;  they  were  puzzled  to  know 
what  to  do  with  him. 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  1881  that  he  was  elected  from  the 
Twenty-first  district,  and  he  was  twice  re-elected,  serving  in  the 
legislatures  of  1882,  1883  and  1884.  This  district  embraces  a 
considerable  part  of  Murray  Hill,  a  locality  long  noted  for  its 
aristocracy  of  wealth,  and  equally  notorious  at  that  time  for  the 
unprincipled,  corrupt  and  infamous  character  of  the  men  who  rep 
resented  it  at  Albany.  So  far  as  its  wealth,  intelligence  and  hon 
est  virtues  were  represented,  it  might  as  well  have  taken  its 
assemblymen  from  the  reeking  dregs  of  the  Bowery. 

FIGHTS  FOR  DECENT  GOVERNMENT. 

Here  was  a  chance  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  make  a  determined 
fight  in  the  interest  of  decent  government,  and  with  coat  off  and 
sleeves  rolled  up  he  went  into  the  contest.  He  was  never  dis 
mayed  by  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  fight,  and  his  courage  was 
equal  to  the '  emergency.  There  was  a  rattling  among  the  dry- 
bones.  A  new  force  was  in  the  field.  His  weapons  were  truth, 
honesty,  downright  denunciation  of  all  corruption,  and  a  rallying 
cry  for  such  a  State  government  as  would  redeem  the  great 
metropolis  and  rescue  it  from  the  grip  of  the  plunderers  and  low 
politicians  whose  chicanery  had  made  it  a  hissing  and  a  by-word. 

By  dint  of  hard  effort  and  aided  by  men  who  thought  and 
felt  as  he  did,  he  secured  the  nomination,  and  as  the  district  was 
republican  his  election  was  assured.  He  was  to  be  a  law-makei 
at  Albany,  representing  a  constituency  that  had  hitherto  paid 
little  attention  to  its  own  best  interests  and  had  become  the  victim 
of  designing  men. 

His  personal  appearance  at  this  time  was  not  such,  as  to  give 
promise  that  he  would  become  a  leader  in  the  lower  House  at 
Albany,  or  would  be  anything  more  than  a  good,  well-meaning 
stripling,  but  one  who  could  be  easily  managed  and  manipulated 
by  older  men  experienced  in  all  the  arts  of  questionable  legislation. 

He  had  a  youthful  look;  he  was  the  youngest  member  of  the 
assembly.  He  was  well  dressed  and  immediately  was  nicknamed 


32  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

"Silk  Stocking."  There  was  nothing  of  the  swagger  and  assump 
tion  invariably  exhibited  by  small  men  ''clothed  with  a  little  brief 
authority."  He  was  very  near-sighted  .and  his  eye-glasses  gave 
him  the  appearance  of  a  man  of  books  rather  than  a  man  of 
affairs.  What  were  his  conceptions  of  the  duties  belonging  to  pub 
lic  office  may  be  gathered  from  his  own  words  : 

"The  terms  'machine'  and  'machine  politician'  are  now 
undoubtedly  used  ordinarily  in  a  reproachful  sense ;  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  this  sense  is  always  the  right  one.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  machine  is  often  a  very  powerful  instrument  for  good  ; 
and  a  machine  politician  really  desirous  of  doing  honest  work  on 
behalf  of  the  community  is  fifty  times  as  useful  as  a  philan 
thropic  outsider.  In  the  rough,  however,  the  feeling  against 
machine  politics  and  politicians  is  tolerably  well  j  ustified  by  the 
facts,  although  this  statement  really  reflects  most  severely  upon 
the  educated  and  honest  people  who  largely  hold  themselves  aloof 
from  public  life  and  show  a  curious  incapacity  for  fulfilling  their 
public  duties. 

"MACHINES"  FOR  PERSONAL  BENEFIT. 

"  The  organizations  that  are  commonly  and  distinctly  known 
as  machines  are  those  belonging  to  the  two  great  recognized 
parties  or  to  their  factional  subdivisions;  and  the  reason  why  the 
word  machine  has  come  to  be  used,  to  a  certain  extent,  as  a  term 
of  opprobrium  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  these  organizations 
are  now  run  by  the  leaders  very  largely  as  business  concerns  to 
benefit  themselves  and  their  followers,  with  little  regard  for  the 
community  at  large.  This  is  natural  enough.  The  men  having 
the  control  and  doing  the  work  have  gradually  come  to  have  the 
same  feeling  about  politics  that  other  men  have  about  the  business 
of  a  merchant  or  manufacturer  ;  it  was  too  much  to  expect  that  if 
left  entirely  to  themselves  they  would  continue  disinterestedly  to 
work  for  the  benefit  of  others. 

"  Many  a  machine  politician  who  is  to-day  a  most  unwholesome 
influence  in  our  politics  is  in  private  life  quite  as  respectable  as 
any  one  else ;  only  he  has  forgotten  that  his  business  affects  the 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  33 

State  at  large,  and  regarding  it  as  merely  his  own  private  con 
cern  he  has  carried  into  it  the  same  selfish  spirit  that  actuates 
in  business  matters  the  majority  of  the  average  mercantile 
community. 

"  A  merchant  or  manufacturer  works  his  business  as  a  rule 
purely  for  his  own  benefit,  without  any  regard  whatever  for  the 
community  at  large.  The  merchant  uses  all  his  influence  for  a 
low  tariff,  and  the  manufacturer  is  even  more  strenuously  in  favor 
of  protection — not  at  all  upon  any  theory  of  abstract  right,  but 
because  of  self-interest.  Bach  views  such  a  political  question  as 
the  tariff  not  from  the  standpoint  of  how  it  will  affect  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  but  merely  from  that  of  how  it  will  affect  him  personally. 

CONSTANT  VIGILANCE  NEEDED. 

"If  a  community  were  in  favor  of  protection,  but  neverthe 
less  permitted  all  the  governmental  machinery  to  fall  into  hands 
of  importing  merchants,  it  would  be  small  cause  for  wonder  if  the 
latter  shaped  the  laws  to  suit  themselves,  and  the  chief  blame, 
after  all,  would  rest  with  the  supine  and  lethargic  majority  which 
failed  to  have  enough  energy  to  take  charge  of  their  own  affairs. 
Our  machine  politicians  in  actual  life  are  in  just  this  same  way  ; 
their  actions  are  very  often  dictated  by  selfish  motives,  with  but 
little  regard  for  the  people  at  large,  though,  like  the  merchants, 
they  often  hold  a  very  high  standard  of  honor  on  certain  points ; 
they  therefore  need  to  be  continually  watched  and  opposed  by  those 
who  wish  to  see  good  government.  But,  after  all,  it  is  hardly  to 
be  wondered  at  that  they  abuse  power  which  is  allowed  to  fall  into 
their  hands  owing  to  the  ignorance  or  timid  indifference  of  those 
who  by  right  should  themselves  keep  it." 

In  one  of  his  addresses  President  Roosevelt  had  something 
pointed  and  wholesome  to  say  for  the  individual,  as  an  individual, 
and  also  as  a  member  of  the  body  politic  with  a  duty  to  perform 
to  the  government  which  shields  him.  As  usual,  the  President 
put  aside,  as  did  Carlyle,  the  enervating  doctrine  that  mere  per 
sonal  happiness,  the  primrose  path  of  ease  and  delight,  is  a 
worthy  aim  for  strong  men  of  a  vigorous  race  who  have  done 

3— M.L, 


34  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

things,  and  in  doing  the  hardest  tasks  find  and  should  find  the 
highest  and  best  satisfaction.  Let  us  not  make  believe  that  there 
are  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  life,  he  says  ;  "  living  is  fighting"  ; 
let  us  quit  ourselves  like  men,  and  happiness  will  follow  or  not,  as 
it  may  be  : 

"  For  many  of  us  life  is  going  to  be  very  hard.  For  each 
one  of  us  who  does  anything  it  is  going  to  have  hard  stretches 
in  it.  Otherwise,  men  would  not  do  anything.  If  a  man  does 
not  meet  with  difficulties,  if  he  does  not  put  himself  in  a  way 
where  he  has  to  overcome  them,  he  would  not  do  anything  that  is 
worthy  of  being  done." 

BROTHERHOOD  MUST  BE  RECOGNIZED. 

Gird  yourselves,  then,  for  the  work  to  l>f-  done,  and  Ameri 
cans  will  never  shirk.  Nor  does  the  individual  lack  vigor  ;  but 
in  the  midst  of  this  seething,  restless  activity  huge  problems, 
social  and  industrial,  face  us  that  must  be  solved,  and  they  can 
only  be  solved  by  the  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  in 
which  is  involved  the  fact  that  all  the  people  in  the  country  have 
rights,  and  all  equally  have  duties. 

Ours,  he  says,  is  the  best  form  of  government  in  the  world  ;  but 
it  is  not  automatic.  It  is  adapted  only  to  the  highest  general  level 
of  intelligence  and  education,  and  to  a  moral  and  highly  patriotic 
people,  who  not  only  feel  their  patriotism  swelling  when  the  for 
eign  foe  threatens,  but  always  have  the  steady  glow  of  devotion  to 
the  common  weal.  If,  for  instance,  employers  and  workers  could 
be  got  together  and  made  to  know  each  other  better,  and  recog 
nize  the  rights  the  one  of  the  other,  industrial  war  would  not  be 
frequent. 

"Now,  in  our  life  of  to-day — in  our  great  complex  industrial 
centres — what  do  we  need  most  ?  We  need  most  each  to  under 
stand  the  other's  viewpoint — to  understand  that  the  other  man  is 
at  bottom  like  himself.  Each  of  us  should  understand  that,  and 
try  to  approach  the  subject  at  issue,  or  any  problem  that  arises, 
with  a  firm  determination  not  to  be  weak  or  foolish.  That  is  help 
ful  to  your  neighbor." 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  35 

According  as  we  one  and  all  do  onr  duty  by  the  nation  and 
by  one  another,  in  the  spirit  which  animated  our  two  great  Amer 
icans,  Washington  and  Lincoln,  will  this  nation,  he  says,  "  suc 
ceed  or  fall  in  the  century  which  has  opened  before  us." 

Now  this  seems  to  be  a  sufficiently  indefinite  and  hazy  plan 
for  the  cure  of  the  defects  in  the  body  politic  and  for  the  preser 
vation  of  the  republic.  Here  is  no  brilliant  or  striking  pro 
gramme,  no  patent  method  ;  but  in  truth  there  is  no  patent  method 
attainable.  Laws  and  ordinances  are  all  futile  if  the  people  be  not 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  justice.  In  a  frank  and  direct  way  the 
President  enforced  the  old  lesson  that  the  nation  will  be  just  as 
good  as  the  individuals  who  compose  it,  and  not  a  whit  better.  All 
the  legislation  that  the  wit  of  man  has  conceived  never  made  a 
strong  nation,  nor  ever  will. 

CHARACTER  IS  EVERYTHING. 

It  is  the  fault  of  the  age  that  too  much  stress  is  placed  on 
laws  or  systems  or  the  things  which  Matthew  Arnold  called  mere 
machinery,  while  the  plain,  but  too  much  overlooked,  truth 
remains  that  the  character  of  the  individual  is  the  only  preserva 
tive  of  a  people  ;  that  safety  depends  on  character,  on  devotion  to 
those  great  principles  of  truth,  honor,  justice  and  mercy — "prin 
ciples  against  which  no  argument  can  be  listened  to  ;  principles 
which  are  the  books,  the  arts,  the  academies  that  teach,  lift  up  and 
nourish  the  world,  without  which  it  is  better  to  die  than  to  live ; 
which  every  servant  of  God,  over  every  sea  and  in  all  lands, 
should  cherish."  This  is  the  simple  doctrine  the  President  would 
teach,  and  by  word  and  example  he  furnishes  an  attractive  and 
inspiring  spectacle  to  the  country,  armed,  as  we  believe  he  is,  in 
simple  truth  and  direct  honesty. 

These  were  the  ideas  concerning  private  and  public  duty  that 
controlled  and  actuated  Roosevelt,  the  young  legislator  who  was 
sent  up  to  Albany  to  help  make  laws  for  the  greatest  common 
wealth  in  the  land — and  not  merely  to  make  laws,  but  to  unmake 
some  that  had  already  been  made  and  were  known  to  be  vicious 
and  unjust,  when,  at  the  connivance  of  public  robbers,  they  were 


36  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

placed  on  the  statute  book.  It  was  an  inviting  field  for  a  young 
reformer,  provided  lie  had  grit  and  courage  enough  to  undertake 
such  a  herculean  task.  Fortunately,  he  was  not  appalled  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done. 

What  his  ideas  were,  and  what  were  the  principles  he  intended 
to  act  upon  and  advocate  soon  came  to  be  known;  men  who 
were  of  his  way  of  thinking,  gathered  around  him,  and  before  the 
first  term  of  the  legislature  was  over  he  was  the  recognized  leader 
of  the  minority  party  in  the  assembly. 

VIEWS  ON  STATE  LEGISLATION. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  the  author  of  a  paper  on  "  Phases  of  State 
Legislation,"  in  which  he  has  stated  clearly  some  of  the  views  he 
holds  on  this  subject  : 

"  There  are  two  classes  of  cases  in  which  corrupt  members  get 
money.  One  is  when  a  wealthy  corporation  buys  through  some 
measure  which  will  be  of  great  benefit  to  itself,  although  perhaps 
an  injury  to  the  public  at  large;  the  other  is  when  a  member 
introduces  a  bill  hostile  to  some  moneyed  interest  with  the 
expectation  of  being  paid  to  let  the  matter  drop.  The  latter, 
technically  called  a  'strike,'  is  much  the  more  common;  for  in  spite 
of  the  outcry  against  them  in  legislative  matters,  corporations  are 
more  often  sinned  against  than  sinning. 

"It  is  difficult  for  reasons  already  stated  to  convict  the  offend 
ing  member,  though  we  have  very  good  laws  against  bribery. 
The  reform  has  got  to  come  from  the  people  at  large.  It  will  be 
hard  to  make  any  great  improvement  in  the  character  of  the  leg 
islators  until  respectable  people  become  fully  awake  to  their 
duties,  and  until  the  newspapers  become  more  truthful  and  less 
reckless  in  their  statements." 

But  "there  is  a  much  brighter  side  to  the  picture — and  this 
is  the  larger  side,  too.  It  would  be  impossible  to  get  together  a 
body  of  more  earnest,  upright  and  disinterested  men  than  the 
band  of  legislators,  largely  young  men  who  "  (during  the  three 
years  he  was  in  office)  "  have  averted  so  much  evil  and  accom 
plished  so  much  good  at  Albany.  This  body  of  legislators  who, 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  37 

at  any  rate,  worked  honestly  for  what  they  thought  right,  were  as 
a  whole  quite  unselfish  and  were  not  treated  particularly  well  by 
their  constituents.  Most  of  them  soon  got  to  realize  the  fact  that 
if  they  wished  to  enjoy  their  brief  space  of  political  life  they 
would  have  to  make  it  a  rule  never  to  consider,  in  deciding  how 
to  vote  on  any  question,  how  their  vote  would  affect  their  own 
political  prospects. 

VALUE  OF  THOROUGH  ORGANIZATION. 

"Under  our  form  of  government,  no  man  can  accomplish  any 
thing  by  himself — he  must -work  in  combination  with  others; 
but  there  seems  often  to  be  a  certain  lack  of  the  robuster  virtues 
in  our  educated  men  which  makes  them  shrink  from  the  struggle 
and  the  inevitable  contact  with  rough  politicians  (who  must  often 
be  rudely  handled  before  they  can  be  forced  to  behave),  while 
their  lack  of  familiarity  with  their  surroundings  causes  them  to 
lack  discrimination  between  the  politicians  who  are  decent  and 
those  who  are  not;  for  in  their  eyes  the  two  classes,  both  equally 
unfamiliar,  are  indistinguishable. 

"Another  reason  why  this  class  is  not  of  more  consequence  in 
politics  is  that  it  is  often  really  out  of  sympathy — or,  at  least,  its 
more  conspicuous  members  are — with  the  feelings  and  interests  of 
the  great  mass  of  American  people;  and  it  is  a  discreditable  fact 
that  it  is  in  this  class  that  what  has  been  most  aptly  termed  the 
1  colonial'  spirit  still  survives.  From  different  causes  the  labor 
ing  classes,  even  when  thoroughly  honest  at  heart,  often  fail  to 
appreciate  honesty  in  their  representatives.  They  are  frequently 
not  well  informed  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  latter,  and 
they  are  apt  to  be  led  aside  by  the  loud  professions  of  the  so-called 
labor  reformers  who  are  always  promising  to  procure  by  legis 
lation  the  advantages  which  can  only  come  to  workingmen,  or  to 
any  other  men,  by  their  individual  or  united  energy,  intelligence 
and  forethought.  Very  much  has  been  accomplished  by  legisla 
tion  for  laboring  men  by  procuring  mechanics'  lien  laws,  factory 
laws,  etc.;  and  hence  it  often  comes  they  think  legislation  can 
accomplish  all  things  for  them." 


38  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

He  then  goes  on  to  show,  as  he  has  done  repeatedly  in  his 
writings  and  public  addresses,  that  laws  are  powerless  in  them 
selves.  They  are  not  automatic.  They  are  only  the  instruments 
by  which  the  community  acts  and  unless  the  individual  citizen  is 
back  of  them  they  are  utterly  worthless.  You  may  legislate 
until  doomsday ;  you  may  pile  laws  as  high  as  the  tower  of  Babel, 
but  they  are  nothing  more  than  useless  rubbish  unless  there  is  a 
public  sentiment  that  demands  their  execution  and  rises  in  right 
eous  wrath  when  they  are  ignored  or  violated. 

.  ELECTED  AGAIN  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE. 

After  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  served  one  term  in  the  legislature 
his  record  was  so  satisfactory  that  he  was  re-elected  by  the  2ist 
assembly  district.  His  large  majority  of  2,219  showed  plainly 
what  his  constituents  thought  of  the  upright  course  he  had  pur 
sued  and  the  efficient  work  he  had  done.  He  ran  2,000  votes  ahead 
of  his  ticket,  and  with  this  strong  endorsement  took  his  seat  again 
in  the  lower  house  at  Albany.  His  party  was  now  in  the  major 
ity  and  his  friends  began  an  active  canvass  to  make  him  speaker. 
He  proved  a  strong  candidate  for  the  nomination,  but  failed  by  a 
few  votes. 

This  was  not  a  cause  of  regret  either  to  himself  or  to  those 
who  had  supported  him,  as  it  left  him  free  to  lead  his  party  on  the 
floor  and  push  through  certain  measures  for  the  public  good  that 
were  urgently  needed.  His  frankness  was  one  of  his  most  prom 
inent  traits.  If  convinced  that  any  bill  he  had  advocated  was 
against  the  true  interests  of  the  public  or  any  corporation,  he 
yielded  promptly,  and  did  it  with  a  grace  and  readiness  that 
elevated  him  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow  legislators. 

In  the  session  of  1883  he  began  a  vigorous  warfare  against 
the  railroad  companies,  and  introduced  a  bill  requiring  the  New 
York  elevated  road  to  reduce  its  fare  from  ten  cents  to  five.  He 
did  this  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  the  public,  and  workingmeu 
especially,  from  what  he  considered  an  extortionate  fare.  The 
bill  met  with  much  opposition,  but  with  characteristic  energy  and 
perseverance  he  pushed  it  through  and  secured  its  adoption. 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE  30 

Grover  Cleveland  was  then  Governor  of  New  York,  and  he 
promptly  vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ground  that  the  rate  of  fare  had 
been  taken  into  consideration  when  the  companies  asked  the 
public  to  invest  their  capital,  and  also  on  the  ground  of  an  implied 
obligation  that  had  arisen  between  the  State  and  the  railroad 
companies  when  the  franchises  were  granted.  These  were  consid 
erations  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  overlooked,  and  he  came  to  believe 
he  had  been  fathering  an  unjust  measure,  although  his  motives 
no  one  could  impugn.  The  question  came  up  as  to  whether  the 
bill  should  be  passed  over  the  Governor's  veto.  To  the  aston 
ishment  of  his  associates  he  flatly  opposed  it,  and  was  now  ready 
to  kill  the  very  enactment  he  had  urged  with  so  much  courage 

and  ability. 

A  REMARKABLE  CONFESSION. 

"  I  have  to  say  with  shame,"  he  began,  "  that  when  I  voted 
for  this  bill  I  did  not  act  as  I  think  I  ought  to  have  acted,  and  as  I 
generally  have  acted  on  the  floor  of  this  House.  For  the  only 
time  that  I  ever  voted  here  contrary  to  what  I  think  to  be  hon 
estly  right  I  did  at  that  time.  I  have  to  confess  that  I  weakly 
yielded,  partly  to  a  vindictive  feeling  toward  the  infernal  thieves 
who  have  that  railroad  in  charge,  and  partly  to  the  popular  voice 
of  New  York.  For  the  managers  of  the  elevated  railroads  I  have 
as  little  feeling  as  any  man  here,  and  if  it  were  possible  I  would 
be  willing  to  pass  a  bill  of  attainder  against  Gould  and  all  of  his 
associates. 

"  I  realize  that  they  have  done  the  most  incalculable  harm  to 
this  community — with  their  hired  stock-jobbing  newspaper,  with 
their  corruption  of  the  Judiciary,  and  with  their  corruption  of  this 
House.  It  is  not  a  question  of  doing  right  to  them,  for  they  are 
merely  common  thieves.  As  to  the  resolution — a  petition  handed 
in  by  the  directors  of  the  company — signed  by  Gould  and  his  son, 
I  would  pay  more  attention  to  a  petition  signed  by  Barney  Aaron, 
Owen  Geoghegan,  and  Billy  McGlory  than  I  would  pay  to  that 
paper,  because  I  regard  these  men  as  part  of  an  infinitely  danger, 
ous  order — the  wealthy  criminal  class." 

The  motion  to  pass  the  bill  over  Governor  Cleveland's  veto 


40  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

was  lost,  but  Roosevelt  had  scored  heavily  in  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  all  honest  men.  He  was  as  ready  to  admit  an  error  as 
he  was  to  do  what  he  honestly  believed  to  be  right.  Nor  was  this 
all.  He  had  coined  a  phrase — ('the  wealthy  criminal  class" — 
that  struck  the  popular  heart  and  further  enhanced  his  popular 
ity  with  the  plain  people.  It  was  a  remarkable  phrase  to  be 
uttered  by  one  who  was  himself  a  young  man  of  wealth.  In  this, 
as  in  many  other  instances,  he  showed  his  well-known  habit  of 
calling  things  by  their  right  names,  whoever  might  be  hit  or 
hurt. 

One  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  biographers  furnishes  the  following 
information  concerning  his  third  term  at  Albany  :  "After  his  third 
election  in  1884  he  introduced  the  Civil  Service  law,  a  bold  and 
revolutionary  political  measure  at  that  time.  He  worked  hard  fot 
legislation  for  the  benefit  of  New  York  city,  and  was  exceeding]}/ 
active  in  furthering  all  philanthropic  bills  and  those  measures 
having  for  their  object  the  interests  of  the  laboring  men.  He 
was  the  man  who  instituted  the  movement  for  the  abolition  of 
tenement-house  cigar  factories.  He  was  chairman  of  the  noted 
Legislative  Investigating  Committee,  the  Roosevelt  Committee, 
which  brought  to  light  many  of  the  abuses  existing  in  the  city 
government  at  that  time." 

HIS  OPINION  OF  THE  AVERAGE  LAW-MAKER. 

His  opinion  of  the  ordinary  State  legislator  is  made  cleai 
from  the  succeeding  statement :  "  The  worst  legislators  come 
from  the  great  cities.  Among  them  are  a  few  cultivated  and 
scholarly  men,  but  the  bulk  are  foreigners  of  little  or  no  educa 
tion.  It  is  their  ignorance,  quite  as  much  as  actual  visciousness, 
which  makes  it  so  difficult  to  secure  the  passage  of  good  laws  or 
prevent  the  passage  of  bad  ones  ;  and  it  is  the  most  irritating  of 
the  many  elements  with  which  we  have  to  contend  in  the  fight  for 
good  government." 

The  qualities  necessary  to  success  in  those  legislative  battles 
Mr.  Roosevelt  himself  describes  as  follows :  "To  get  through  any 
such  measures  requires  genuine  hard  work,  a  certain  amount  of 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  41 

parliamentary  skill,  a  good  deal  of  tact  and  courage,  and,  above 
all,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  men  with  whom  one  has  to  deal 
and  of  the  motives  which  actuate  them. 

"  Legislative  life  has  temptations  enough  to  make  it  unad- 
visable  for  any  weak  man,  whether  young  or  old,  to  enter  it.  A 
great  many  men  deteriorate  very  much  morally  when  they  go  to 
Albany.  It  will  be  hard  to  make  any  great  improvement  in  the 
character  of  the  legislators  until  respectable  people  become  more 
fully  awake  to  their  duties,  and  until  the  newspapers  become  more 
truthful  and  less  reckless  in  their  statements.  The  servile  tool 
of  the  'boss'  or  the  'machine'  in  the  legislature  can  rarely  be  a 
good  public  servant." 

PLEA  FOR  HIGH  STANDARD  OF  CITIZENSHIP. 

In  the  same  line  of  thought  is  the  following  extract  from  a 
speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  when  he 
visited  that  city  and  was  welcomed  by  an  enthusiastic  throng: 
"Mankind  goes  ahead  but  slowly,  and  it  goes  ahead  mainly 
through  each  of  us  trying  to  do  the  best  that  is  in  him,  and  to  do 
it  in  the  sanest  way.  We  have  founded  our  republic  upon  the 
theory  that  the  average  man  will,  as  a  rule,  do  the  right  thing, 
that  in  the  long  run  the  majority  are  going  to  decide  for  what  is 
sane  and  wholesome.  If  our  fathers  were  mistaken  in  that  theory, 
if  ever  things  become  such — not  occasionally  but  persistently, 
that  the  mass  of  the  people  do  what  is  unwholesome,  what  is 
wrong,  then  the  republic  cannot  stand. 

"  I  care  not  how  good  its  laws.  I  care  not  what  marvelous 
mechanism  its  constitution  may  embody.  Back  of  the  laws,  back 
of  the  administration,  back  of  the  system  of  government,  lies  the 
man,  lies  the  average  manhood  of  our  people,  and  in  the  long  run 
we  are  going  to  go  up  or  go  down  accordingly  as  the  average 
standard  of  our  citizenship  does  or  does  not  wax  in  growth 
and  grace.  [Great  applause.] 

"  Now,  when  we  come  to  the  question  of  good  citizenship,  the 
first  requisite  is  that  the  man  shall  do  the  homely,  every-day, 
humdrum  duties  well.  A  man  is  not  a  good  citizen,  I  do  not  care 


42  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE. 

how  lofty  his  thoughts  are  about  citizenship  in  the  abstract,  if  in 
the  concrete  his  actions  do  not  bear  them  out;  and  it  does  not 
make  much  difference  how  high  his  aspirations  for  mankind  at 
large  may  be,  if  he  does  not  behave  well  in  his  own  family  those 
aspirations  do  not  bear  visible  fruit.  He  has  got  to  be  a  good 
bread-winner,  he  has  got  to  take  care  of  his  wife  and  his  children, 
he  has  got  to  be  a  neighbor  whom  his  neighbors  can  trust. 

"  He  has  got  to  act  squarely  in  his  business  relations,  he  has 
got  to  do  those  every-day  ordinary  things  first,  or  he  is  not  a  good 
citizen.  But  he  has  got  to  do  more  than  that.  In  this  country  of 
ours  the  average  citizen  has  got  to  devote  a  good  deal  of  thought 
and  time  to  the  affairs  of  the  State  as  a  whole  or  those  affairs  are 
going  to  go  backward;  and  he  has  got  to  devote  that  thought  and 
that  time  steadily  and  intelligently. 

SPASMS  IN  THE  WORK  OF  REFORM. 

"  If  there  is  any  one  quality  that  is  not  admirable,  whether  in 
a  nation  or  in  an  individual,  it  is  hysterics,  either  in  religion  or 
in  anything  else.  The  man  or  woman  who  makes  up  for  ten-days' 
indifference  to  duty  by  an  eleventh-day  of  morbid  repentance 
about  that  duty  is  of  scant  use  in  the  world.  [Laughter.]  Now 
in  the  same  way  it  is  of  no  possible  use  to  decline  to  go  through 
all  the  ordinary  duties  of  citizenship  for  a  long  space  of  time  and 
then  suddenly  to  get  up  and  feel  very  angry  about  something  or 
somebody,  not  clearly  defined  in  one's  mind,  and  demand  reform, 
as  if  it  was  a  concrete  substance  to  be  handed  out  forthwith." 

It  can  readily  be  understood  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  a  very 
poor  opinion  of  those  New  York  voters  who  cried  out  against  the 
evils  that  afflicted  their  city,  yet  did  little  or  nothing1  to  remedy 
them.  One  day  he  said  to  a  gentleman,  "  I  suppose  you  will,  of 
course,  vote  next  Tuesday."  "I  am  sorry  to  say,"  the  man 
replied,  "  that  1  have  an  engagement  to  go  quail-hunting  on  that 
day."  Imagine  a  man  like  Roosevelt  deliberately  setting  aside 
the  highest  duty,  the  most  important  function  of  a  citizen,  to 
chase  quails  with  a  shotgun.  The  man  who  would  not  spend  a 
moment's  time,  or  a  cent  of  his  money,  in  the  interest  of  good 


MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE.  43 

government   was  little   less   than  a   traitor   and   was   only  to   be 
despised. 

When  Roosevelt  began  his  career  at  Albany  some  one  sneer- 
ingly  remarked  that  he  had  '  'started  out  to  reform  the  universe." 
Those  who  can  sneer  at  the  honest  efforts  of  a  true  reformer  are 
not  likely  to  reform  anything,  but  finally  disappear  from  public 
view,  leaving  behind  them  only  the  slimy  trail  of  their  own  cor 
ruption  and  knavery.  At  Albany  Mr.  Roosevelt  boldly  attacked 
public  abuses  that  had  been  festering  for  years  in  the  body  poli 
tic.  He  did  not  succeed  in  every  instance,  but  the  fault  was  not 
his.  It  lay  at  the  door  of  the  tricksters,  the  men  who  put  them 
selves  up  at  auction,  the  party  trimmers  who  were  afraid  their 
political  interests  would  be  imperilled. 

VICTOR  IN  A  PERSONAL  ENCOUNTER. 

Of  course,  a  "Silk  Stocking"  who  believed  in  good  govern 
ment  and  upright  law-makers  encountered  opposition  and  made 
enemies.  But  he  never  cherished  hard  feelings  toward  any  one 
who  did  not  choose  to  support  the  measures  he  advocated.  In 
this  connection  the  following  incident  related  by  one  of  his  biog 
raphers  will  be  of  interest : 

"  It  has  always  been  a  peculiarity  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  nature 
that  he  never  'got  niad'  at  people,  no  matter  what  the  provoca 
tion.  He  always  remembered  faces,  and  all  that  had  passed  in 
his  association  with  a  man  ;  but  he  never  avoided  that  person,  no 
matter  what  the  latter' s  conduct  may  have  been.  In  legislative 
life  that  is  an  especially  valuable  trait.  He  could  fight  a  man 
all  day  on  the  floor  and  then  meet  him  with  a  laugh  and  a  jest  in 
the  evening. 

"And  so  on  this  night,  after  a  day  when  he  had  been  a  par 
ticularly  sharp  thorn  in  the  side  of  corruption,  he  moved  about, 
the  lobby  of  the  old  hotel,  chatting  with  friends,  tossing  a  laugh 
and  a  good-natured  thrust  at  those  who  had  opposed  him,  and 
treating  the  whole  matter  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  under 
stands  the  motives  as  well  as  the  actions  of  those  with  whom  he 
is  associated.  He  did  not  pose.  He  made  no  pretense  of  loftier 


44  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  LEGISLATURE 

morality  than  those  about  him,  but  let  them  draw  their  own  con 
clusions  from  his  conduct. 

"At  ten  o'clock  he  started  to  leave  the  hotel.  On  the  way 
from  the  upper  portion  of  the  lobby,  where  he  had  been  chatting 
with  fellow  members,  he  passed  the  door  leading  to  the  buffet. 
And  from  that  door,  as  by  a  preconcerted  signal  from  the  *  honor 
able  men '  with  whom  he  had  been  associating,  came  a  group  of 
fellows,  rather  noisy,  and  full  of  the  jostling  which  follows  tarry 
ing  at  the  wine.  They  were  not  a  pleasant  lot.  One  in  particu 
lar  was  a  pugilist  called  *  Stubby '  Collins,  and  this  bully  bumped 
rather  forcibly  against  Mr.  Roosevelt.  The  latter  was  alone,  but 
he  saw  in  an  instant,  with  the  eye  of  a  man  accustomed  to  col 
lisions,  the  fact  that  this  little  party  had  waylaid  him  with  a  pur 
pose.  He  paused,  fully  on  his  guard,  and  then  '  Stubby,'  with  an 
appearance  of  the  greatest  indignation,  struck  at  him,  demanding 
angrily  *  What  do  you  mean,  running  into  me  that  way  ? ' 

THOROUGHLY  ENJOYED  THE  SCRIMMAGE. 

"  The  blow  did  not  land.  The  men  who  hired  '  Stubby '  had 
not  informed  him  that  this  young  member  of  the  assembly  had 
been  one  of  the  very  best  boxers  at  Harvard,  and  rather  liked  a 
fight.  They  had  simply  paid  the  slugger  a  certain  price  to  (  do 
up '  the  man  who  could  not  take  a  hint  in  any  other  way. 

"  In  an  instant  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  chosen  his  position.  It 
was  beyond  the  group  of  revellers,  and  where  he  could  keep  both 
them  and  the  more  aristocratic  party  of  their  employers  in  view. 
And  there,  standing  quite  alone,  *  Stubby '  made  his  rush.  In 
half  a  minute  the  thug  was  beaten.  He  had  met  far  more  than 
his  match,  and  the  two  or  three  of  his  friends  who  tendered  their 
assistance  were  gathering  themselves  up  from  the  marble  floor  of 
the  lobby  and  wondering  if  there  had  not  been  a  mistake. 

"When  it  was  all  over  Mr.  Roosevelt  walked,  still  smiling, 
down  the  room,  and  told  the  '  honorable '  providers  of  this  combat 
that  he  understood  perfectly  their  connection  with  it,  and  that  he 
was  greatly  obliged  to  them — he  had  not  enjoyed  himself  more  for 
a  year," 


CHAPTER  III. 
MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN. 

DIME  NOVELS — SEEKING  ROMANTIC  ADVENTURES — EMPTINESS  OF 
A  LIFE  OF  MERE  SPORT — ROOSEVELT  BUYS  A  RANCH — FAR 
FROM  CIVILIZATION — ADVANTAGES  OF  LIFE  ON  THE  PLAINS — 
FIRST  APPEARANCE  AT  MEDORA — THE  RANCH  BUILDING — 
BREAKING  WILD  HORSES— PURSUIT  OF  BIG  GAME— THRILL 
ING  ADVENTURE  WITH  A  GRIZZLY  BEAR — FRIGHTENS  A  RUF 
FIAN—HIS  ACCOUNT  OF  A  FLOCK  OF  WILD  GEESE— STORY  OF 
"  OLD  EPHRAIM  " — WINTER  NIGHTS  AT  THE  RANCH. 

IF  Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  boy,  ever  read  a  dime  novel  or  a  story 
*  of  wild  western  life,  no  mention  has  ever  been  made  of  it.  He 
did  not  get  his  love  of  frontier  life  from  the  cheap  literature  that 
kills  bears  and  Indians  on  every  page%  The  average  boy  who 
reads  of  the  bnrly  bandit  and  desperate  outlaw  holding  up  stage 
coaches  and  railway  trains,  is  apt  to  admire  such  bold  deeds  and 
imagine  himself  the  hero  of  similar  achievements.  He  is  eager 
to  outdo  the  ruffians  whose  exploits  are  all  duly  chronicled. 

Suddenly  the  band  of  desparadoes  appears,  halts  the  coach  in 
an  unfrequented  spot,  flourishes  rifles  and  revolvers,  terrorizes 
the  helpless  passengers,  strips  them  of  their  valuables,  paralyzes 
by  threats  all  attempts  at  resistance,  and,  having  secured  the 
plunder,  purses,  watches  and  jewelry,  vanishes  from  sight,  leaving 
the  outraged  victims  to  express  their  thankfulness  at  having 
escaped  with  their  lives.  Stories  of  this  description,  dressed 
up  in  hysterical  phrases,  form  the  staple  of  that  vast  mass  of 
pernicious  dime  literature  which  fascinates  the  youthful  reader 
and  in  many  instances  turns  him  into  an  adventurer  and  an 
outlaw.  - 

He  is  thrilled  by  the  strange,  weird,  sanguinary  tales  of 
pioneer  life.  He  craves  a  career  of  romantic  adventure.  He  would 
shoot  a  bear  or  an  Indian  ;  he  would  ride  a  bucking  horse  on  a 

hunting  excursion ;  perhaps  he  would  become  an  armed  ruffian 

45 


46  MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN. 

and  make  his  name  a  terror  by  robbery  and  deeds  of  violence. 
His  ambition  is  to  roam  the  plains,  lead  the  life  of  a  marauder 
and  become  a  freebooter  like  those  whose  exploits  he  has  read  of 
in  books  and  which  he  is  eager  to  imitate. 

It  was  not  from  such  motives  or  with  such  intentions  that 
young  Roosevelt  resolved  to  try  the  experiences  of  life  on  the 
western  plains.  If  the  thousand  tales  of  daring  feats,  bold  enter 
prises  and  dangerous  ventures  that  are  so  eagerly  read  by  school 
boys  ever  had  any  charm  for  him,  they  certainly  did  not  influence 
his  actions  in  the  slightest  degree.  He  had  no  thought  of  achiev 
ing  distinction  by  scalping  Indians.  But  he  wanted  a  ranch  in 
the  West  and  secured  one  in  North  Dakota  during  his  third  term 
at  Albany.  He  was  fond  of  hunting  big  game.  The  long 
expedition  with  his  trusty  rifle  and  a  few  associates  or  attendants 
was  his  pastime. 

BOOKS  WERE  A  PART  OF  HIS  OUTFIT. 

Mere  sport  is  commonly  an  idle  thing,  a  device  for  whiling 
away  time  and  obtaining  a  temporary  pleasure.  Roosevelt  had 
no  thought  of  going  to  the  Bad  Lands  for  any  such  purpose.  He 
had  other  objects  in  view,  and  although  enjoying  the  chase  as  any 
full-blooded  man  would  be  apt  to  enjoy  it,  he  never  would  have 
ventured  into  the  far  West  merely  for  this.  He  had  aims  and 
ideals  that  could  not  be  realized  by  trout  fishing  and  bear  hunt 
ing.  His  books  went  with  him,  and  were  as  much  a  part  of  his 
outfit  as  his  gun  and  cartridge  pouch. 

He  felt  that  vigor  of  mind  and  body  would  result  from 
roughing  it  on  his  ranch.  He  would  breathe  a  pure  air,  drink 
from  unpolluted  streams,  climb  steep  cliffs  and  stand  on  their 
summits  in  the  glow  of  healthful  exercise.  The  winds  would 
bronze  his  cheek  and  toughen  his  fibre.  The  weariness  of  toil 
would  bring  refreshing  sleep ;  the  silence  of  the  evening  camp 
would  give  him  an  opportunity  to  think ;  books  would  be  read 
with  a  keener  relish  ;  the  wild  horse,  spirited  and  hard  to  subdue, 
would  test  his  nerve  and  muscle ;  association  with  the  shrewd, 
yet  untutored,  ranchmen  would  hold  him  in  contact  with  common, 


MR.   ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN.  47 

ordinary  men  ;  he  would  learn  much  from  the  rough  characters 
whose  names  are  never  written  in  histories,  but  who  are  after  all 
heroes  in  their  way. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  ranch  was  a  long  distance  from  even  the  out 
posts  of  civilization,  six  hundred  miles  from  St.  Paul,  on  the 
northwestern  border  of  North  Dakota.  Nature  there  is  pure  and 
unadulterated — no  snorting  locomotives,  no  whizzing  automobiles, 
no  street  cars  or  fashionable  promenaders,  no  demoniac  yells  from 
brokers  on  the  exchange,  no  church  bells  or  operatic  choirs,  and 
no  rank  odors  from  gutters  and  alleys.  There  is  something  to  be 
said  in  favor  of  Dame  Nature — dense  forests,  high  bluffs,  dark 
ravines,  noisy  waterfalls,  suns  that  modestly  hide  their  afternoon 
faces  behind  mountains,  birds  and  animals  that  fly  and  roam  in 
their  native  haunts,  rivers  that  sweep  on  majestically  to  the  sea. 
God  made  all  this. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  FRONTIER  LIFE. 

If  Mr.  Roosevelt  wished  to  flee  to  solitude  and  a  retreat  from 
all  intrusion,  he  made  a  good  choice  of  location.  The  nearest  town 
is  Medora,  eight  miles  away,  so  named  after  the  wife  of  the  Mar 
quis  de  Mores,  who,  before  her  marriage,  was  the  beautiful  Miss 
Von  Hoffman,  of  New  York. 

In  such  a  region  as  that,  one  is  not  likely  to  be  troubled  by 
his  neighbors.  Many  miles  intervene  between  a  ranch  and  the 
one  adjoining  it.  Your  business  is  not  interfered  with  ;  there  is 
no  neighborhood  gossip ;  reports  that  have  to  travel  twenty  miles 
to  find  a  listener  must  be  pretty  robust  if  they  do  not  die  on  the 
way.  One  need  not  complain  of  depredations  by  his  neighbors' 
chickens  or  annoyance  from  pedlers. 

Out  into  this  remote  corner  of  the  Bad  Lands  Mr.  Roosevelt 
went  and  left  the  world  behind  him.  He  ceased  to  be  a  legislator 
that  he  might  become  a  cowboy.  He  made  as  good  a  cowboy  as  he 
did  assemblyman  of  the  Empire  State,  determined  always  to  do 
well  whatever  he  undertook.  His  life  on  the  ranch  was  not  a  play- 
spell.  He  did  not  ask  his  men  to  do  what  he  was  not  willing  to 
do  himself,  and  any  one  who  got  an  earlier  start  in  the  morning 


48  MR.  ROOSEVELT  A3  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN. 

than  he  did  or  worked  later  at  night  might  have  been  considered 
a  good  candidate  for  rapid  promotion. 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  first  appeared  at  Medora  in  the  early 
eighties  he  was  an  object  of  great  curiosity.  A  central  saloon  was 
the  place  of  rendezvous  for  both  the  respectable  people  in  town  and 
those  who  belonged  to  that  class  of  adventurers  who  frequent  all 
frontier  settlements.  They  eyed  him  curiously,  wondered  who 
he  was  and  what  brought  him  to  that  place,  made  side  remarks 
about  his  personal  appearance,  and  did  not  for  a  moment  class 
him  as  one  of  themselves.  He  was  young,  rather  tall  and  slim, 
dressed  well  and  had  the  bearing  of  a  gentleman  entirely  unused 
to  a  wild  western  life.  They  were  figuring  how  much  could  be 
made  out  of  him. 

NOT  A  VICTIM  FOR  CHEATS  AND  ROBBERS. 

He  was  too  good  a  judge  of  human  nature,  and  too  expert  in 
handling  men,  to  be  made  a  victim  of  any  set  of  adventurers  how 
ever  shrewd  or  desparate  they  might  be.  As  Mr.  Roosevelt  had 
gone  to  this  locality  for  buffalo  hunting  he  singled  out  a  guide 
and  found  his  experience  of  great  service.  This  young  fellow, 
named  Sylvane  Ferris,  finally  became  a  sort  of  companion  to  his 
employer.  He  was  pleased  to  learn  that  the  near-sighted  sports 
man  from  "way  down  Bast"  could  walk,  ride,  climb,  shoot  and 
rough  it  equal  to  any  one  who  had  grown  up  in  that  region  and 
was  accustomed  to  the  adventures  of  life  on  the  plains. 

All  this  was  only  preliminary  to  securing  a  ranch,  and  com 
bining  sport  with  profit  derived  from  raising  such  stock  as  cattle 
and  horses.  The  ranch  building  is  made  of  logs,  hewn  on  one 
side  for  ornament.  Some  attention  had  to  be  paid  to  looks  even 
in  that  wild  country  ;  no  spot  on  earth  can  be  found  where  out 
ward  appearances  are  of  no  account.  There  is  a  long,  low  veranda 
shaded  by  thrifty  cotton-woods ;  a  stretch  of  meadow  lies  in  front 
and  this  is  buttressed  by  precipitous  cliffs. 

The  building  is  a  story  and  a  half  high.  On  the  ground 
floor  is  a  living  room,  a  library  and  kitchen.  The  sleeping  apart 
ments  up  stairs  are  of  the  most  primitive  kind,  and  none  but  cow- 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ROOSEVELT   AS   A    HUNTER    WHEN    A    YOUNG    MAN 


COPYRIGHT,    1898,    BY    GEO.   O.    ROCKWOOO, 

COLONEL    THEODORE    ROOSEVELT 

CELEBRATED  COMMANDER  OF  THE  ROUGH  RIDERS 


COPYRIGHT    1002,    BY    CLINEDINST,    WASHINGTON,    D.  C. 

THEODORE     ROOSEVELT    ON    HORSEBACK 

MR     ROOSEVELT  IS  AN   EXPERT   EQUESTRIAN.       THIS   PHOTOGRAPH  SHOWS  ONE  OF 
HIS  FEATS  ON  HIS  FAVORITE  HORSE 


\ 


COPYRIGHT    1899,    BY    KURZ    &    ALLISON 


COLONEL    THEODORE    ROOSEVELT    LEADING    A    CHARGE    OF    THE 

ROUGH    RIDERS 


COPYRIGHT    1901,    BY    CLINEDINST,    WASHINGTON,    D.  C. 


rHEODORE     ROOSEVELT   WRITING    HIS    LAST    MESSAGE    IN    HIS    OFFIQg 


AT    THE    WHITE    HOUSE 


LION  LEAPING  OVER   A   STOCKADE 

Col.  Roosevelt  Killed  Three  Large  Lions  Like  the  above  During 
His  First  Day's  Hunt  in   Africa. 


VV*^  SK  N/'TJP 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN.  49 

boys  accustomed  to  sleeping  anywhere  would  be  willing  to  take 
the  chances  of  a  night's  rest  in  such  rude  barracks.  In  front  is 
a  horse  corral,  an  enclosure  in  which  to  round  up  horses.  This 
Is  built  in  circular  shape  to  prevent  the  injury  that  might  follow 
from  the  animals  crowding  into  corners. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  stocked  his  ranch  with  sixty  head  of  wild 
horses.  These  were  all  to  be  broken  to  bit  and  bridle.  No  person 
except  a  cowboy  could  fail  to  have  a  vision  of  broken  bones,  and 
contusions  ending  in  life-long  scars  and  injuries,  in  view  of  the 
dangers  of  the  work  to  be  undertaken.  Mr.  Roosevelt  appeared 
to  enjoy  it,  and  no  one  was  more  willing  than  he  to  mount  a  buck 
ing  mustang  that  preferred  standing  on  either  end  to  standing  on 
all-fours.  Once  he  was  thrown  by  a  long-legged,  vicious  brute 
that  went  by  the  name  of  "  Ben  Butler,"  and  being  too  plucky  to 
stay  thrown  he  re-mounted  and  not  until  some  time  afterward  did 
he  disclose  the  fact  that  by  his  fall  he  had  three  ribs  broken. 

STORY  OF  HIS  "MOST  THRILLING  MOMENT." 

He  could  roam  to  any  distance  through  the  Bad  Lands  and 
pursue  big  game  over  a  vast  territory.  The  land  is  government 
land,  is  unsurveyed  and  likely  to  remain  so  for  an  indefinite  time 
to  come.  It  is  fine  hunting  ground,  being  well  stocked  with  such 
game  as  an  enthusiastic  hunter  likes.  Mr.  Roosevelt  occasionally 
had  startling  adventures  while  engaged  in  his  favorite  sport. 
Once  he  was  in  Idaho,  was  out  alone  with  his  gun,  and  was 
charged  upon  by  a  wounded  grizzly  bear,  an  animal  terribly  fero 
cious  when  face  to  face  with  a  foe.  We  append  his  graphic 
account  of  this  encounter,  which  he  calls  his  "  most  thrilling 
moment :" 

"  I  held  true,  aiming  behind  the  shoulder,  and  my  bullet 
shattered  the  point  or  lower  end  of  his  heart,  taking  out  a  big 
nick.  Instantly  the  great  bear  turned  with  a  harsh  roar  of  fury 
and  challenge,  blowing  the  bloody  foam  from  his  mouth,  so  that 
I  saw  the  gleam  of  his  white  fangs ;  and  then  he  charged  straight 
at  me,  crashing  and  bounding  through  the  laurel  bushes,  so  that 
it  was  hard  to  aim.  I  waited  until  he  came  to  a  fallen  tree,  raking 

4— M.L. 


50  MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN. 

him,  as  he  topped  it,  with  a  ball,  which  entered  his  chest  and  went 
through  the  cavity  of  his  body ;  but  he  neither  swerved  nor 
flinched,  and  at  the  moment  I  did  not  know  that  I  had  struck 
him. 

"  He  cam »  steadily  on,  and  in  another  second  was  almost  upon 
me.  I  fired  for  his  forehead,  but  my  bullet  went  low,  entering 
his  open  mouth,  smashing  his  lower  jaw  and  going  into  the  neck. 
I  leaped  to  one  side  almost  as  I  pulled  the  trigger  ;  and  through 
the  hanging  smoke  the  first  thing  I  saw  was  his  paw,  as  he  made 
a  vicious  side  blow  at  me.  The  rush  of  his  charge  carried  him 
past. 

"  As  he  struck  he  lurched  forward,  leaving  a  pool  of  bright 
blood  where  his  muzzle  hit  the  ground  ;  but  he  recovered  himself, 
and  made  two  or  three  jumps  onward,  while  I  hurriedly  jammed 
a  couple  of  cartridges  into  the  magazine,  my  rifle  holding  only 
four,  all  of  which  I  had  fired.  Then  he  tried  to  pull  up,  but  as 
he  did  so  his  muscles  seemed  suddenly  to  give  way,  his  head 
dropped,  and  he  rolled  over  and  over  like  a  shot  rabbit.  Each  of 
my  first  three  bullets  had  inflicted  a  mortal  wound." 

GOOD  MARKSMAN  AT  RUNNING  GAME. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  has  the  name  of  being  a  good  shot,  particu 
larly  at  running  game,  although  he  says  his  eyesight  is  too 
defective  to  admit  of  his  taking  first  rank  in  this  respect.  This 
is  what  he  has  to  say  on  this  score : 

"I  myself  am  not  and  never  will  be  more  than  an  ordinary 
shot,  for  my  eyes  are  bad  and  my  hand  not  over  steady ;  yet  I  have 
killed  every  kind  of  game  to  be  found  on  the  plains,  partly  because 
I  have  hunted  very  perseveringly,  and  partly  because  by  practice 
I  have  learned  to  shoot  about  as  well  at  a  wild  animal  as  at  a 
target." 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald  writing  from 
Medora,  in  1895,  tells  an  incident  which  is  indicative  of  the  mettle 
in  the  make-up  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  The  incident  was  this :  "  For  a 
long  time  after  he  had  established  his  ranches  the  feeling  between 
the  outlaw  element  and  the  cattlemen  ran  high.  It  culminated 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN.  61 

in  a  meeting,  held  in  a  little,  unfinished  freight  shanty  at  Medora, 
for  the  purpose  of  banding  the  cattle  owners  together  for  mutual 
protection.  It  was  openly  hinted  that  a  certain  deputy  sheriff  was 
in  collusion  with  the  tough  element.  Not  more  than  a  score  of 
quiet,  determined  men  made  up  the  meeting.  The  sheriff  was 
present,  an  interested  spectator. 

BOLDLY  FACES  A  DISHONEST  SHERIFF. 

"After  some  preliminary  forms  of  organization,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
got  up  and  addressed  the  meeting,  or  rather,  addressed  the  sheriff. 
Never  in  the  history  of  the  frontier  has  such  a  speech  been  list 
ened  to.  He  openly  accused  the  sheriff  of  dishonesty  and  incom 
petence,  and  with  the  reflected  light  from  the  officer's  pearl- 
handled  revolver  at  his  belt  flashing  across  his  gold-rimmed 
glasses,  the  speaker  scored  him  as  a  man  unworthy  and  unfit  for 
his  office.  It  is  one  thing  to  deliver  a  fiery  accusation  of  general 
or  personal  charges  at  a  crowded  meeting  of  law-abiding  people. 
It  is  another  to  coolly  stand  before  a  silent  handful  of  frontiersmen 
and  openly  accuse  one  of  dishonesty. 

"  Death  stares  closely  in  the  face  the  man  who  dares  attempt 
it,  for  these  men,  bred  in  isolation,  are  sensitive  to  the  quick  oc 
their  personal  honor,  and  an  accusation  that  would  be  laughed  at 
in  Cooper  Union  would  eat  out  a  man's  heart  here.  With  down 
cast  head  the  sheriff  said  never  a  word,  but  his  prestige  was  gone 
forever." 

President  Roosevelt's  hunting  experiences  were  not  always 
so  dangerous  as  the  one  just  narrated.  While  preferring  what 
goes  by  the  name  of  "  big  game,"  he  was  not  indifferent  to  any 
beast  or  fowl.  The  larger  birds  often  drew  shots  from  his  rifle 
and  added  to  his  trophies. 

On  one  occasion  he  was  annoyed  by  a  flock  of  geese  and  fur 
nishes  the  following  account  of  his  attack  on  them  : 

"  They  were  clustered  on  a  high  sandbar  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  which  here  ran  in  a  very  wide  bed  between  two  low  banks. 
The  only  way  to  get  at  them  was  to  crawl  along  the  river-bed 
which  was  partly  dry,  using  the  patches  of  rushes  and  the  sand 


52  MR.   ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND   RANCHMAN. 

hillocks  and  drift-wood  to  shield  myself  from  their  view.  As  it 
was  already  late  and  the  sun  was  just  sinking,  I  hastily  retreated 
a  few  paces,  dropped  on  the  bank,  and  began  to  creep  along  on  my 
hands  and  knees  through  the  sand  and  gravel.  Such  work  is 
always  tiresome,  and  is  especially  so  when  done  against  time.  I 
kept  in  line  with  a  great  log  washed  up  on  the  shore,  which  was 
some  seventy-five  yards  from  the  geese.  , 

A  SHOT  THAT  WENT  TO  THE  MARK 

"  On  reaching  it  and  looking  over,  I  was  annoyed  to  find  that 
in  the  fading  light  I  could  not  distinguish  the  birds  clearly  enough 
to  shoot,  as  the  dark  river  bank  was  behind  them.  I  crawled 
ahead  quickly.  Peeping  over  the  edge  I  could  now  see  the  geese, 
gathered  into  a  clump  with  their  necks  held  straight  out,  sharply 
outlined  against  the  horizon ;  the  sand  flats  stretching  out  on 
either  side,  while  the  sky  above  was  barred  with  gray  and  faint 
crimson.  I  fired  into  the  thickest  of  the  bunch,  and  as  the  rest 
flew  off,  with  discordant  clamor,  ran  forward  and  picked  up  my 
victim,  a  fat  young  wild  goose  (or  Canada  goose),  the  body  badly 
torn  by  the  bullet." 

The  President  also  relates  another  experience : 

"  I  had  been  out  after  antelopes,  starting  before  there  was  any 
light  in  the  heavens,  and  pushing  straight  out  towards  the  rolling 
prairie.  After  two  or  three  hours,  when  the  sun  was  well  up,  I 
neared  where  a  creek  ran  in  a  broad,  shallow  valley.  I  had  seen 
no  game,  and  before  coming  up  to  the  crest  of  the  divide,  beyond 
which  lay  the  creek  bottom,  I  dismounted  and  crawled  up  to  it,  so 
as  to  see  if  any  animal  had  come  down  to  drink. 

"  Field  glasses  are  almost  always  carried  while  hunting  on 
the  plains,  as  the  distances  at  which  one  can  see  game  are  so 
enormous.  On  looking  over  the  crest  with  the  glasses  the  valley 
of  the  creek  for  about  a  mile  was  stretched  before  me.  At  my 
feet  the  low  hills  came  closer  together  than  in  other  places,  and 
shelved  abruptly  down  to  the  bed  of  the  valley,  where  there  was 
a  small  grove  of  box-alders  and  cotton-woods.  The  beavers  had, 
in  times  gone  by,  built  a  large  dam  at  this  place  across  the  creek, 


MR,  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND   RANCHMAN.  53 

which  must  have  produced  a  great  back-flow  and  made  a  regular 
little  lake  in  the  times  of  freshets. 

"  But  the  dam  was  now  broken,  and  the  beavers,  or  most  of 
them,  gone,  and  in  the  place  of  the  lake  was  a  long,  green  meadow. 
Glancing  towards  this  my  eye  was  at  once  caught  by  a  row  of  white 
objects  stretched  straight  across  it,  and  another  look  showed  me 
that  they  were  snow  geese.  They  were  feeding,  and  were  moving 
abreast  of  one  another  slowly  down  the  length  of  the  meadow 
towards  the  end  nearest  me,  where  the  patch  of  small  trees  and 
brushwood  lay.  A  goose  is  not  as  big  game  as  an  antelope  ;  still 
I  had  never  shot  a  snow  goose,  and  we  needed  fresh  meat,  so  I 
slipped  back  over  the  crest  and  ran  down  to  the  bed  of  the  creek, 
round  a  turn  of  the  hill,  where  the  geese  were  out  of  sight. 

GETTING  A  GOOD  POSITION  FOR  A  SHOT. 

"The  creek  was  not  an  entirely  dry  one,  but  there  was  no 
depth  of  water  in  it  except  in  certain  deep  holes ;  elsewhere  it  was 
a  muddy  ditch  with  steep  sides,  difficult  to  cross  on  horseback 
because  of  the  quicksands.  I  walked  up  to  the  trees  without  any 
special  care,  as  they  screened  me  from  view,  and  looked  cautiously 
out  from  behind  them.  The  geese  were  acting  just  as  our  tame 
geese  act  in  feeding  on  a  common,  moving  along  with  their  necks 
stretched  out  before  them,  nibbling  and  jerking  at  the  grass  as 
they  tore  it  up  by  mouth fuls. 

"They  were  very  watchful,  ami  one  or  the  other  of  them  had 
its  head  straight  in  the  air  looking  sharply  round  all  the  time. 
Geese  will  not  come  near  any  cover  in  which  foes  may  be  lurking 
if  they  can  help  it,  and  so  I  feared  that  they  would  turn  before 
coming  near  enough  to  the  brush  to  give  me  a  good  shot.  I  there 
fore  dropped  into  the  bed  of  the  creek,  which  wound  tortuously 
along  the  side  of  the  meadow,  and  crept  on  all  fours  along  one  of 
its  banks  until  I  came  to  where  it  made  a  loop  out  towards  the 
middle  of  the  bottom. 

"Here  there  was  a  tuft  of  tall  grass,  which  served  as  a  good 
cover,  and  I  stood  upright,  dropping  my  hat,  and  looking  through 
between  the  blades.  The  geese,  still  in  a  row,  with  several  yards' 


54  Mfc.  kOOSEVELt  AS  A  COWBOY  ANt>  RANCHMAN. 

interval  between  each  one  and  his  neighbor,  were  only  sixty  ot 
seventy  yards  off,  still  feeding  towards  me.  They  came  along 
}uite  slowly,  and  the  ones  nearest,  with  habitual  suspicion,  edged 
away  from  the  scattered  tnfts  of  grass  and  weeds  which  marked 
the  brink  of  the  creek.  I  tried  to  get  two  in  line,  but  could  not. 
<<"There  was  one  gander  much  larger  than  any  other  bird  in  the 
lot,  though  not  the  closest  to  me;  as  he  went  by  just  opposite  my 
hiding  place,  he  stopped  still,  broadside  to  me,  and  I  aimed  just  at 
the  root  of  the  neck — for  he  was  near  enough  for  any  one  firing  a 
rifle  from  a  rest  to  hit  him  about  where  he  pleased.  Away  flew 
the  others,  and  in  a  few  minutes,  I  was  riding  along  with  the  white 
gander  dangling  behind  my  saddle." 

INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  GREAT  GRIZZLY  OF  MONTANA. 

One  of  the  great  feats  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  with  his  rifle  was  in 
nis  last  interview  with  Old  Ephraim,  the  Great  Grizzly  of  Mon 
tana.  The  bear  signs  were  found  in  the  midst  of  pine  trees,  and 
the  hunter  thus  tells  the  story : 

"The  beast's  footprints  were  perfectly  plain  in  the  dust,  and 
ie  had  lumbered  along  up  the  path  until  near  the  middle  of  the 
hillside,  where  the  ground  broke  away  and  there  were  hollows  and 
boulders.  Here  there  had  been  a  windfall,  and  the  dead  trees  lay 
among  the  living,  piled  across  one  another  in  all  directions;  while 
.Between  and  around  them  sprouted  up  a  thick  growth  of  young 
spruces  and  other  evergreens.  The  trail  turned  off  into  the 
tangled  thicket,  within  which  it  was  almost  certain  we  should  find 
our  quarry. 

"We  could  still  follow  the  tracks,  by  the  slight  scrapes  of 
the  claws  on  the  bark,  or  by  the  bent  and  broken  twigs ;  and  we 
advanced  with  noiseless  caution,  slowly  climbing  over  the  dead  tree 
trunks  and  upturned  stumps,  and  not  letting  a  branch  rustle  or 
catch  on  our  clothes.  When  in  the  middle  of  the  thicket  we  crossed 
what  was  almost  a  breastwork  of  fallen  logs,  and  Merrifield,  who  was 
leading,  passed  by  the  upright  stem  of  a  great  pine.  As  soon  as  he 
was  by  it,  he  sank  suddenly  on  one  knee,  turning  half  round,  his 
face  fairly  aflame  with  excitement ;  and  as  I  strode  past  him,  with 


MR.   ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND   RANCHMAN. 


55 


my  rifle  at  the  ready,  there,  not  ten  steps  off,  was  the  great  bear, 
slowly  rising  from  his  bed  among  the  great  spruces.  He  had 
heard  us,  but  apparently  hardly  knew  exactly  where  or  what  we 
were,  for  he  reared  up  on  his  haunches  sideways  to  us. 

"Then  he  saw  us  and  dropped  down  again  on  all  fours,  the 
shaggy  hair  on  his  neck  and  shoulders  seemed  to  bristle  as  he 
turned  toward  us.  As  he  sank  down  on  his  forefeet  I  had  raised 
the  rifle  ;  his  head  was  bent  slightly  down,  and  when  I  saw  the  top 
of  the  white  head  fairly  between  his  small,  glittering,  evil  eyes,  I 
pulled  trigger.  Half  rising  up,  the  huge  beast  fell  over  on  his 
side  in  the  death  throes,  the  ball  having  gone  into  his  brain,  strik 
ing  fairly  between  the  eyes,  as  if  the  distance  had  been  measured 
by  a  carpenter's  rule.  The  whole  thing  was  over  in  twenty  sec 
onds  from  the  time  I  caught  sight  of  the  game ;  indeed,  it  was 
over  so  quickly  that  the  grizzly  did  not  have  time  to  show  fight  at 
all  or  come  a  step  toward  us. 

HUGE  DIMENSIONS  AND  WEIGHT. 

"It  was  the  first  I  had  ever  seen,  and  I  felt  not  a  little  proud 
as  I  stood  over  the  great  brindled  bulk  which  lay  stretched  out 
at  length  in  the  cool  shade  of  the  evergreens.  He  was  a  mon 
strous  fellow,  much  larger  than  any  I  have  seen  since,  whether 
alive  or  brought  in  dead  by  the  hunters.  As  near  as  we  could 
estimate  (for  of  course  we  had  nothing  with  which  to  weigh  more 
than  very  small  portions)  he  must  have  weighed  about  twelve 
hundred  pounds." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  thus  describes  his  ranch-building:  "The  story- 
high  house  of  hewn  logs  is  clean  and  neat,  with  many  rooms,  so 
that  one  can  be  alone  if  one  wishes  to.  The  nights  in  summer 
are  cool  and  pleasant,  and  there  are  plenty  of  bear-skins  and  buffalo 
robes,  trophies  of  our  own  skill,  with  which  to  bid  defiance  to 
the  bitter  cold  of  winter.  In  summer  time  we  are  not  much  with 
in  doors,  for  we  rise  before  dawn  and  work  hard  enough  to  be  will 
ing  to  go  to  bed  soon  after  nightfall. 

"The  long  winter  evenings  are  spent  sitting  round  the 
hearthstone,  while  the  pine  logs  roar  and  crackle,  and  the  men 


56,  MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND   RANCHMAN. 

play  checkers  or  chess,  in  the  fire  light.  The  rifles  stand  in  the 
corners  of  the  room  or  rest  across  the  elk;  antlers  which  jut  out 
from  over  the  fireplace.  From  the  deer  horns  ranged  along  the 
walls,  and  thrust  into  the  beams  and  rafters,  hang  heavy-  over 
coats  of  wolf-skin  or  coon-skin,  and  otter  fur  or  beaver  fur  caps 
and  gauntlets.  Rough  board  shelves  hold  a  number  of  books, 
without  which  some  of  the  evenings  would  be  long  indeed. 

"  In  the  still  fall  nights,  if  we  lie  awake  we  can  listen  to  the 
clanging  cries  of  the  water-fowl,  as  their  flocks  speed  southward; 
and  in  cold  weather  the  coyotes  occasionally  come  near  enough 
for  us  to  hear  their  uncanny  wailing.  The  larger  wolves,  too, 
now  and  then  join  in,  with  a  kind  of  deep,  dismal  howling;  but 
this  melancholy  sound  is  more  often  heard  when  out  camping 
than  from  the  ranch-house.  The  charm  of  ranch  life  comes  in  its 
freedom,  and  the  vigorous  open-air  existence  it  forces  a  man  to 

lead." 

BENEFITS  DERIVED  FROM  RANCH  LIFE. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  smiles  when  asked  about  the  money  he  made 
by  his  cattle  ranches.  It  is  certain  he  did  not  amass  a  fortune 
and  place  himself  in  such  a  position  that  he  could  retire  and  live 
on  the  income  of  a  fortune  accumulated  on  the  Western  plains. 
Yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  did  not  go  West  merely  for 
money.  Fresh  air,  outdoor  exercise  and  labor,  tough  muscles 
and  athletic  frame,  are  things  that  cannot  be  valued  in  dollars  and 
cents.  Ranch  life  is  good  for  the  man  who  is  always  going  to  be 
a  ranchman ;  it  is  no  less  good  for  the  man  who  is  going  to  be  an 
author  or  statesman.  Some  grand  brain  work  and  some  great 
oratorical  feats  have  been  performed  by  men  with  very  muscular 
hands  and  ruddy  faces. 

After  Mr.  Roosevelt  became  President,  he  showed  his  fond 
ness  for  the  life  of  a  hunter,  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  broke 
loose  from  his  official  duties  at  Washington  and  fled  to  the  woods 
for  game  and  recreation.  A  southwestern  journal  gives  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  one  of  his  trips  : 

"  President  Roosevelt  will  be  among  the  bears  this  afternoon 
at  4.30,  when  he  reaches  Smedes,  Miss.  A  guide  employed  by 


MR.   ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND   RANCHMAN.  57 

Stuyvesant  Fish,  president  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railway,  will 
escort  the  President  into  the  most  likely  fastnesses  of  the  cane- 
brake,  and  the  slaughter  will  begin  if  bruin  appears.  The  Presi 
dent  hopes  that  the  Mississippi  bears  will  not  be  as  shy  as  the 
Virginia  turkeys.  If  they  are,  he  will  return  to  Washington 
empty  handed. 

"  Colonel  Roosevelt  arrived  on  his  special  train  and  was  met 
by  Stuyvesant  Fish  and  Lieutenant  John  McBlhenny,  formerly 
of  the  Rough  Riders,  his  fellow  hunters*  A  great  crowd  greeted 
the  President  at  the  station,  where  a  stop  was  made  only  long 
enough  to  attach  Mr.  Fish's  private  car. 

GENERAL  HAMPTON'S  OLD  HUNTING  GROUND. 

"The  place  selected  for  the  hunt  is  some  miles  from  the  rail 
road,  and  is  in  the  region  which  was  formerly  the  favorite  hunting 
ground  of  General  Wade  Hampton,  the  famous  leader  of  the 
Confederate  Black  Horse  Cavalry.  General  Hampton  at  one  time 
owned  a  plantation  in  this  vicinity,  and  hunted  black  bear  in  the 
cane-brakes  with  horses  and  hounds. 

"Years  ago  the  President  and  General  Hampton  planned  a 
hunt  in  this  region,  but  it  was  never  made,  and  when  Mr.  Fish, 
who  is  president  of  the  Illinois  Central,  proposed  the  present  trip, 
the  President  readily  assented. 

"To  one  who  has  hunted  grizzlies  in  the  Rockies,  black  bear 
are  not  very  big  game.  But  hunting  bear  with  horse  and  hounds 
will  be  a  new  experience  for  him.  If  a  bear  shall  not  be  secured 
it  will  not  be  the  fault  of  Mr.  Fish.  He  has  arranged  to  have 
one  of  the  best  packs  of  hounds  in  the  Mississippi  delta  at  the 
camp. 

"The  President  has  with  him  the  hunting  outfit  used  by  him 
for  many  years  in  his  hunting  trips  after  big  game  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  his  ranch  on  the  Little  Missouri,  in  Dakota,  and  in 
the  mountains  of  Idaho,  Montana  and  Colorado.  It  includes  a 
fringed  buckskin,  which  is  worn  by  the  old  wilderness  hunter, 
and  his  favorite  Winchester  40-90.  With  this  weapon  he  has 
killed  many  of  his  hunting  trophies.  It  bears  the  interesting 


58  MR.  ROOSEVELT  AS  A  COWBOY  AND  RANCHMAN. 

scars  of  one  of  his  battles  with  a  cougar,  or  mountain  lion,  in 
Colorado.  In  closing  with  a  wounded  cat,  the  President  thrust 
the  stock  into  his  mouth.  It  shows  the  teeth  marks  of  the 
enraged  animal,  and  the  place  where  a  small  piece  was  literally 
bitten  away. 

"His  cartridge  belt  has  a  hunting  knife  attached.  Most  of 
the  bullets  are  soft-nosed,  but  a  few  of  them  are  steel  jacketed  for 
penetrating  power  in  case  the  President  should  get  a  chance  for  a 
long  shot.  While  thus  prepared  for  wilderness  conditions,  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  President  will  don  his  buckskin  suit  unless 
he  finds  that  genuine  conditions  prevail." 

The  President  spent  several  days  in  pursuit  of  bears,  but  the 
animals  seemed  to  know  that  they  were  in  danger,  and  were, 
uncommonly  shy.  They  even  objected  to  being  killed  by  a  presi 
dent,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  returned  to  Washington  without  any  bear 
skins. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  WEST. 

HARDSHIPS  OF  FRONTIER  LIFE— HARDY  COWBOYS — AMUSEMENTS  ON 
THE  RANCH — THE  SPRING  AND  FALL  ROUND-UP — TROUBLES 
WITH  WILD  HERDS — RANCH  BUSINESS  ON  THE  WANE — HORACE 
GREELEY'S  FARM — ADVENTURE  WITH  A  BUFFALO — STORY  OF 
ROOSEVELT'S  BEAR  HUNT  IN  MISSISSIPPI — How  HE  KILLED  AN 
ELK— EVENING  AT  THE  RANCH  HOUSE — LOVER  OF  BOOKS — 
ADVANTAGES  OF  His  SOJOURN  IN  DAKOTA — STUDY  OF  THE 
INDIAN  QUESTION  AT  SHORT  RANGE. 

THIS  great  country  of  ours  affords  every  variety  of  climate, 
from  the  mild  breezes  of  the  sunny  South  to  the  freezing  blasts 
of  northern  New  Hngland  and  the  great  lakes.  Oceans  of  grain 
on  the  vast  prairies  billow  away,  when  stirred  by  summer  winds 
like  the  waves  of  a  vast  sea.  A  few  months  later  and  the  prairies 
are  swept  by  wintry  storms  that  threaten  destruction  to  man  and 
beast.  The  rich  valleys  yield  their  splendid  harvests,  the  verdure 
disappears  and  snows,  driven  by  fierce  gales,  bury  out  of  sight  all 
signs  of  summer's  thrift  and  beauty. 

And  even  during  any  one  season  the  fickle  climate  may  play 
pranks  entirely  unlooked  for,  and  confront  the  settlers  with 
troubles  for  which  little  or  no  provision  has  been  made.  All 
guesses  and  calculations  may  fail ;  unexpected  storms  may  deplete 
the  herds,  or  some  subtle  disease  may  break  out  among  the  flocks. 

The  ranchman  knows  what  to  expect.  His  life  is  an  alterna 
tion  of  sweating  and  shivering,  but  he  becomes  indifferent  to 
changes  of  season  and  weather,  and  as  he  endures  the  heat  of 
summer,  so  he  braves  the  cold  of  winter.  Sometimes  a  howling 
storm,  with  sleet  and  snow,  sweeps  over  the  plains  ;  again  the  air 
is  still,  not  a  breath  stirs,  but  the  intense  cold,  sending  the 
thermometer  many  degrees  below  zero,  pierces  like  a  Damascus 
blade.  The  clear  air  and  intense  cold  are  not  so  much  dreaded  as  the 

furious  gale,  although  in  either  case  the  man  on  the  plains  has  a 

59 


$0  MR.   ROOSEVELT S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

serious  hardship  to  contend  with,  and  is  fortunate  if  he  escapes 
the  clutches  of  the  biting  frost. 

The  cowboy  is  not  supposed  to  take  account  of  wind  or 
weather.  Drenched  to  the  skin  by  an  all-day  rain,  he  flings  him 
self  at  night  on  his  hard  couch,  complains  of  no  insomnia,  rises 
at  four  in  the  morning,. goes  about  his  business  and  makes  light 
of  his  hardships.  He  is  seldom  the  victim  of  dyspepsia.  He 
would  be  willing  to  risk  the  headache  that  comes  from  high  living 
and  abominable  diet  if  he  could  only  get  that  kind  of  food.  He 
grows  hardy,  is  what  you  might  call  "tough,"  and  his  powers  of 
endurance  resemble  those  of  the  old-fashioned  Indians,  who  lived 
in  their  native  forests. 

Life  on  a  ranch  is  not  all  labor  and  no  play.  To  be  sure, 
the  hours  are  long,  the  work  is  often  hard,  the  risks  to  life  and 
limb  in  breaking  wild  horses  to  the  bit  are  many,  but  the  cowboy 
has  his  sports  and  pastimes.  Any  one  who  can  play  a  fiddle,  or 
even  a  jewsharp,  or  can  sing  a  song,  or,  best  of  all,  can  dance  a 
jig,  is  a  favorite,  and  can  afford  an  endless  amount  of  amusement. 

LOVER  OF  HARMLESS  AMUSEMENTS. 

Into  all  these  harmless  sports  Mr.  Roosevelt  entered  with  the 
zest  and  enjoyment  of  a  boy.  If  there  was  to  be  a  dance  in  which 
all  the  elite  from  far  and  near  were  to  appear  in  their  most  gen 
teel  apparel  (or  rather  costumes)  he  was  expected  to  open  the 
proceedings  and  lead  the  merry-making.  Festivities  of  this 
description  were  enjoyed  by  those  who  participated  in  them  fully 
as  much  as  the  "  four  hundred"  ever  enjoyed  any  of  their  public 
functions. 

Nor  let  it  be  supposed  that  the  average  cowboy  has  no  sense 
of  gentility  or  propriety.  True  he  can  mount  a  horse  with  more 
grace  than  he  can  bow  to  a  lady  ;  he  can  settle  disputes  without 
sending  his  card  to  the  man  who  has  insulted  him ;  he  can  cut  a 
more  attractive  figure  on  his  fleet  broncho  than  on  the  dancing 
floor;  he  appears  more  at  ease  in  his  rough  riding  suit  than  in 
"best  clothes,"  but  there  is  an  honest,  generous,  considerate  side 
to  fcis  nature,  and,  as  a  rule,  he  is  manly  and  respectful,  His 


MR.   ROOSEVELT S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  61 

language  is  not  always  the  most  select,  and  his  expletives  are 
original  and  are  apt  to  be  sufficiently  forcible  to  express  his  mean 
ing  ;  still  he  is  not  dumb  to  good  treatment,  and  he  will  respond 
like  a  man  to  every  manly  appeal. 

As  Mr.  Roosevelt  knew  the  character  of  the  men  he  had  to 
deal  with  and  could  adapt  himself  to  all  persons  and  circum 
stances;  he  had  little  difficulty  in  the  management  of  his  ranch. 
Many  things  required  to  be  done  were  both  dangerous  and  difficult. 
In  his  book  on  "  Ranch  Life  and  the  Hunting  Trail "  Mr.  Roose 
velt  describes  a  "  round-up." 

The  spot  where  this  particular  round-up  took  place  was  on 
the  level  bottom  of  a  bend  in  the  river.  The  wagons  were  scat 
tered  among  the  cotton-wood  trees  along  the  side  of  the  river,  and 
the  horses  were  grazing  not  far  away.  In  one  part  of  the  great 
corral  the  men  were  branding  .calves  ;  every  ranch  has  its  own 
brand  or  mark  and  this  tells  who  is  the  owner.  The  middle  of 
the  bottom  was  filled  with  a  great  herd  of  cattle  and  noisy  cow 
boys  galloping  hither  and  yon  on  their  fractious  steeds. 

HOW  OWNERS  FIND  THEIR  STOCK. 

"  As  soon  as,  or  even  before,  the  last  circle  riders  have  come 
in  and  have  snatched  a  few  hasty  mouthfuls  to  serve  as  their  mid 
day  meal,  we  begin  to  Work  the  herd — or  herds,  if  the  one  herd 
should  be  of  too  unwieldly  size.  The  animals  are  held  in  a  com 
pact  bunch,  most  of  the  riders  forming  a  ring  outside,  while  a 
couple  from  each  ranch  successively  look  the  herds  through  and 
cut  out  those  marked  with  their  own  brand.  To  do  good  work  in 
cutting  out  from  a  herd,  not  only  should  the  rider  be  a  good 
horseman,  but  he  should  also  have  a  skilful,  thoroughly  trained 
horse. 

"  In  cutting  out  a  cow  and  a  calf  two  men  have  to  work 
together.  As  the  animals  of  a  brand  are  cut  out  they  are  received 
and  held  apart  by  some  rider  detailed  for  the  purpose,  who  is  said 
to  be  *  holding  the  cut.'  All  this  time  the  men  holding  the  herd 
have  their  hands  full,  for  some  animal  is  continually  trying  to 
break  out,  when  the  nearest  man  flies  at  it  at  once  and  soon  brings 


62  MR.  ROOSEVELT  S   ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

it  back  to  its  fellows.  As  soon  as  all  the  cows,  calves,  and  what 
ever  else  is  being  gathered  have  been  cut  out  the  rest  are  driven 
clear  off  the  ground  and  turned  loose,  being  headed  in  the  direc 
tion  contrary  to  that  in  which  we  travel  on  the  following  day. 
Then  the  riders  surround  the  next  herd,  the  men  holding  cuts 
move  them  up  nearer,  and  the  work  is  begun  anew. 

HOW  BRANDING  IS  DONE. 

"  As  soon  as  the  brands  of  cattle  are  worked  and  the  animals 
that  are  to  be  driven  along  are  put  in  the  day  herd,  attention  is 
turned  to  the  cows  and  calves  which  are  already  gathered  in  dif 
ferent  bands,  consisting  each  of  all  the  cows  of  a  certain  brand 
and  all  the  calves  that  are  following  them.  If  there  is  a  corral 
^ach  band  is  in  turn  driven  into  it ;  if  there  is  none  a  ring  of 
riders  does  duty  in  its  place.  A  fire  is  built,  the  irons  heated,  and 
a  dozen  men  dismount  to,  as  it  is  called,  'wrestle'  the  calves. 
The  best  two  ropers  go  in  on  their  horses  to  catch  the  latter ;  one 
man  keeps  tally,  a  couple  put  on  the  brands,  and  the  others  seize, 
throw  and  hold  the  little  unfortunates. 

"If  there  are  seventy  or  eighty  calves  in  a  corral  the  scene  is 
one  of  the  greatest  confusion.  The  ropers  spurring  and  checking 
the  fierce  little  Texan  horses  drag  the  calves  up  so  quickly  that  a 
dozen  men  can  hardly  hold  them  ;  the  men  with  the  irons,  black 
ened  with  soot,  run  to  and  fro ;  the  calf-wrestlers,  grimy  with 
blood,  dust  and  sweat,  work  like  beavers  ;  while  with  the  voice  of 
a  stentor  the  tally-man  shouts  out  the  number  and  sex  of  each 
calf.  The  dust  rises  in  clouds,  and  the  shouts,  cheers,  curses 
and  laughter  of  the  men  unite  with  the  lowing  of  the  cows  and 
the  frantic  bleating  of  the  roped  calves  to  make  a  perfect  Babel. 

"  Now  and  then  an  old  cow  turns  vicious  and  puts  every  one 
out  of  the  corral.  Or  a  maverick  bull — that  is,  an  unbranded 
bull — a  yearling  or  a  two-year  old,  is  caught,  thrown  and  branded; 
when  he  is  let  up  there  is  sure  to  be  a  fine  scatter.  Down  goes 
4is  head,  and  he  bolts  at  the  nearest  man  who  makes  out  of  the 
way  at  top  speed  amidst  roars  of  laughter  from  all  of  his  com 
panions  ;  while  the  men  holding  down  calves  swear  savagely  as 


MR.   ROOSEVELT  S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  63 

they  dodge  charging  mavericks,  trampling  horses,  and  taut  lariats 
with  frantic  plunging  little  beasts  at  the  farther  ends." 

The  round-up  here  described  is  a  feature  of  ranch  business 
that  tries  all  the  strength  and  prowess  of  the  men  who  engage  in 
it.  An  eastern  farmer  can  go  into  his  pastures  and  find  the  cattle 
so  accustomed  to  the  sight  of  him  and  so  used  to  his  voice,  and 
perhaps  his  touch,  that  they  do  not  shun  him  or  make  any  effort 
to  run  away.  He  can  call  the  cows  at  night  and  in  a  few  minutes 
see  them  coming  down  the  lane.  In  the  barnyard  they  seem 
almost  to  be  a  part  of  the  family ;  they  can  be  driven  anywhere ; 
they  do  not  often  j  ump  fences  and  get  lost ;  they  can  be  depended 
upon  for  good  intentions  and  are  so  domesticated  that  they  give 
little  trouble  and  require  little  care. 

EASTERN  FARMERS  AND  THEIR  HERDS. 

Such  animals  are  well  behaved  compared  with  a  great  herd  on 
the  ranch.  A  ranch,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  place,  demoralizes 
the  stock.  The  animals  roam  at  their  own  free  will;  they  go  and 
come  as  they  please;  generally  they  go  but  do  not  come;  if  you 
want  them  you  must  chase  them;  they  have  very  loose  and  way 
ward  habits,  and  you  may  have  to  travel  many  miles  before  you 
overtake  them  and  make  them  understand  that  they  are  wanted 
for  some  special  occasion. 

The  old  days  of  ranching  are  fast  passing  and  new  conditions 
are  controlling  the  business.  Yet  the  time  is  still  distant  when 
the  vast  plains  of  the  West  will  cease  to  be  the  recruiting  ground 
for  the  great  droves  of  cattle  needed  by  Omaha,  Kansas  City  and 
Chicago  for  supplying  the  world  with  food.  One  would  think 
that  with  such  boundless  pastures  and  such  a  world-wide  demand 
the  ranchman  would  easily  become  a  millionaire,  but  with  rare 
exceptions  we  never  hear  of  the  cattle  king.  We  have  had  min 
ing  kings,  lumber  kings,  merchant  princes  and  railroad  kings,  but 
the  multi-millionaire  who  made  his  fortune  on  the  ranch  is 
yet  to  be  discovered. 

The  causes  of  this  have  been  touched  upon  frequently  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  The  wrong  man  is  sometimes  on  the  ranch,  a  man 


64  MR.   ROOSEVELT S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

who  has  no  experience  and  has  not  wit  enough  to  gain  any.  He 
can  never  know  what  he  has  not  the  facnlty  of  learning.  Bad 
management  will  wreck  any  business;  there  are  multitudes  of  men 
who  cannot  understand  why  their  business  is  not  a  success;  it 
would  be  if  they  themselves  were  a  success. 

To  incompetence  must  sometimes  be  added  inefficiency,  lazi 
ness,  lack  of  energy,  and  the  idea  that  in  some  unexplained 
way  business  will  take  care  of  itself,  will  start  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  let  the  man  who  pretends  to  carry  it  on  lie  abed 
until  eight.  The  ranchman  who  can  never  get  an  early  start  or 
show  that  he  is  wide  awake,  except  when  going  on  a  hunting  trip, 
is  not  likely  to  tell  large  stories  of  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
made  on  a  ranch. 

LOSSES  THAT  CANNOT  BE  AVOIDED. 

But  the  most  serious  obstacle  the  ranchman  has  to  contend 
with  is  the  losses  to  his  stock  that  come  from  causes  over  which 
he  has  no  control.  He  cannot  make  it  rain  in  summer  when  fie^ 
drouth  is  burning  up  the  plains.  He  cannot  stay  the  storm  in 
winter  that  buries  the  earth  in  snow  from  four  to  ten  feet  deep. 
He  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  elements,  and  the  blasts  that  sweep 
down  from  polar  realms  have  no  pity  on  him. 

What,  with  losses  of  stock  that  stray  too  far  to  be  recovered 
or  die  from  hunger  and  starvation,  the  prospects  of  large  gains 
are  not  unmistakably  sure. 

Horace  Greeley  wrote  a  book  to  tell  what  he  knew  about 
farming.  It  was  a  common  remark  that  the  reason  why  Mr. 
Greeley  had  a  farm  was  that  he  had  a  newspaper.  The  "  Tribune" 
kept  the  farm  going.  What  the  farm  did  not  do  for  itself  was 
done  by  the  famous  journal,  which  some  one  called  the  Bible  of 
the  country  people.  On  this  principle  any  man  could  have  a 
ranch  and  raise  cattle  and  horses,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  slow  to 
maintain  that  there  was  boundless  wealth  to  be  gained  in  the  Bad 
I/ands. 

It  may  be  said  in  a  general  way  that  Mr.,  Roosevelt  enjoyed 
bis  life  as  a  ranchman,  and  thrived  on  its  rough  experiences. 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  65 

When  not  fully  occupied  with  the  management  of  his  business, 
he  was  ready  for  the  adventures  that  always  fall  to  the  lot  of  the 
hunter.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  Ferris,  his  guide, 
who  accompanied  him  usually  on  his  trips  in  pursuit  of  game. 
When  Roosevelt  first  went  to  Dakota,  buffalo  hunting  had  about 
ceased.  This  animal  had  had  his  day,  and  was  only  occasionally 
to  be  met  with.  Ferris  thus  describes  one  of  their  first  excursions : 

"  It  meant  hard  work  to  get  a  buffalo  at  that  time,  and  whether 
the  thin  young  man  could  stand  the  trip  was  a  question,  but 
Roosevelt  was  on  horseback  and  he  rode  better  than  I  did,  and 
could  stand  just  as  much  knocking  about  as  I  could. 

"  On  the  first  night  out,  when  we  were  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles  from  a  settlement,  we  went  into  camp  on  the  open  prairie, 
with  our  saddle  blankets  over  us,  our  horses  picketed  and  the 
picket  ropes  tied  about  the  horns  of  our  saddles,  which  we  used 
for  pillows.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  there  was  a  rush,  our 
pillows  were  swept  from  under  our  heads  and  our  horses  went 
tearing  off  over  the  prairie,  frightened  by  wolves. 

OVERTAKES  A  HUGE  BUFFALO. 

"  Roosevelt  was  up  and  off  in  a  minute  after  the  horses. 
"  On  the  fourth  or  fifth  day  out,  I  think  it  was,  our  horses 
pricked  up  their  ears  and  I  told  Roosevelt  there  was  a  buffalo  close 
at  hand.  We  dismounted  and  advanced  to  a  big  '  washout '  near, 
peered  over  its  edge,  and  there  stood  a  huge  buffalo  bull,  calmly 
feeding  and  unaware  of  our  presence. 

" l  Hit  him  where  that  patch  of  red  shows  on  his  side,'  said  I, 
'and  you've  got  him.' 

"  Roosevelt  was  cool  as  a  cucumber,  took  a  careful  aim  and 
fired.  Out  came  the  buffalo  from  the  'washout,'  with  blood  pour 
ing  from  his  mouth  and  nose.  '  You've  shot  him,'  I  shouted,  and 
so  it  proved,  for  the  buffalo  plunged  a  few  steps  and  fell." 

One  of  the  early  and  useful  friends  of  Roosevelt  in  the  Wild 
West  among  the  Rough  Riders,  was  Colonel  Cody,  the  famous 
Buffalo  Bill,  and  many  a  wild  ride  they  had.  One  of  the  most 

fearless  and  tireless  of  riders,  Roosevelt  was  never  fond  of  break- 
&— M.L. 


66  MR.  ROOSEVELT S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

ing  the  bucking  bronchos,  as  seen  in  the  shows  of  his  friend  on 
horseback.  There  were  better  ways  of  expending  strength,  and 
his  plan  of  life  was  the  useful  investment  of  all  his  resources. 

He  went  into  the  cattle  business,  and  started  with  five  hun 
dred  steers,  and  his  guide  remarks:  "  He  worked  for  a  part  of  a 
season  as  a  cowboy.  He  had  his  own  '  string'  of  horses,  and  they 
were  as  ugly  and  ill-tempered  as  the  majority  of  cow  horses.  He 
was  not  a  broncho-breaker,  as  he  has  been  pictured  to  be,  and  he 
took  no  unnecessary  chances  in  mounting  or  endeavoring  to  tame 
an  especially  ugly  horse.  But  he  did  not  shrink  from  riding  his 
own  horses  when  they  cut  up  the  customary  capers  of  mustangs, 
and  although  he  was  sometimes  thrown,  and  on  one  or  two  occa 
sions  pretty  badly  bruised  and  hurt,  he  stuck  to  his  mounts  until 
he  had  mastered  them." 

ROOSEVELT  IN  PURSUIT  OF  BEARS. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  in  this  connection  to  furnish  the  reader 
with  an  amusing  account  of  one  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  more  recent 
hunting  trips-  in  pursuit  of  bears.  The  account  emanated  from 
Smedes,  Miss.,  to  which  locality  the  President  went  to  enjoy  a  few 
days  in  the  woods. 

"  Ho"  Collier,  the  veteran  negro  swamp  guide  and  bear  hunter, 
related  the  full  story  of  his  four  days'  experience  with  President 
Roosevelt  u  Ho"  was  busily  engaged  in  getting  the  horses,  dogs 
and  hunting  outfit  aboard  a  car  on  the  siding  at  Smedes,  to  be 
taken  back  to  his  home  at  Greenville. 

Holt  Collier  is  one  of  the  conspicuous  figures  in  the  Missis 
sippi  delta.  His  skill  with  his  rifle  and  his  constant  attention  to 
the  1  rail  for  the  past  forty  years  have  made  him  perfectly  familiar 
with  the  ins  and  outs  of  the  woods  and  every  foot  of  the  delta  soil 
from  Vicksburg  to  Memphis.  He  was  President  Roosevelt's 
personal  guide  throughout  the  hunt.  Here  is  his  story^— the  first 
detailed  story  of  the  hunt  yet  told: 

"  I  know  all  those  gent'men  in  de  party  has  had  a  mighty 
fine  time,  and  as  for  de  President,  I  never  seen  a  man  in  all  my 
times  of  hunting  in  dese  woods  what  'joyed  a  hunt  like  he  did. 


MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  67 

He  was  jes'  as  happy  as  a  schoolboy,  and  lie  certainly  is  a  dead* 
game  sport. 

"  We  started  out  Thursday,  and  it  took  us  'bout  till  dark  to 
get  in  camp  and  get  settled  good.  So  on  Friday  morning,  'fore 
we  started  out,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said  he  was  awful  anxious  to 
kill  a  b'ar. 

"  So  when  he  said  dat,  I  told  him  dat  I  was  determined  for 
him  to  get  dat  chance,  and  if  I  had  to  run  a  b'ar  down  and  tie  him 
I  would  see  dat  he  got  a  chance  to  get  a  shot. 

"Of  course  de  party  all  scattered,  and  we  begins  to  hunt,  and 
somehow  I  felt  like  I  was  a-going  to  get  a  big  one  up,  and  sho' 
nuff,  I  wasn't  wrong,  'cause  dat  b'ar  we  first  started  was  de  biggest 
he  b'ar  I  ever  see  or  heard  tell  of  for  a  long  time. 

u  He  was  a  hard  one  to  run  down,  too.  I  am  here  to  tell  yo' 
and  when  I  heerd  dat  rascal  breaking  through  de  cane  and  my 
dogs  hot  after  him  I  knew  I  was  a-going  to  get  close  after  him.  I 
was  anxious  for  some  one  to  ride  around  and  get  the  President  to 
follow  in  with  us,  as  I  kept  on  feeling  dat  he  could  get  a  big  Var 
'fore  long. 

TRYING  TO  FIND  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"  Whar  was  de  President?  Why,  Lordy,  chile,  he  was  a 
snooking  'round  on  his  own  hook  in  de  jungle.  Dat  man  wouldn't 
be  tied  to  nobody.  I  done  make  a  terrible  noise,  so  he'd  come 
whar  de  b'ar  war,  but  whar  wuz  he  ? 

"  When  my  dogs  did  run  dat  b'ar  down  he  went  down  in  a 
mud  hole,  and  it  was  kinder  thick  and  hard  to  get  at,  so  I  stood 
round  and  didn't  shoot,  case  I  wanted  *  the  Colonel'  to  hurry  up 
and  come  in  behind  me  so  he  could  kill  the  first  one. 

"  I  tried  my  best  to  get  dat  big  b'ar  to  tree,  but  he  wouldn't, 
so  I  thought  he  was  jes'  going  to  get  the  best  of  my  pack,  so  I  hit 
him  with  the  butt  of  my  gun  and.  then  throwed  my  lassoo  'bout  his 
neck  and  made  him  fast  to  a  wilier  tree. 

"Then  they  done  got  de  President,  and  den  when  he  come 
up,  I  says,  *  Shoot  de  b'ar,  Colonel,  he's  tied!' 

"  'Scuse  me, '  sez  Colonel  Roosevelt,  laffan  at  de  b'ar  all  tied 
up  dar  nice  and  snug,  "Scuse  me,'  sez  he,  '  dat's  too  easy.  ' 


68  MR.   ROOSEVELT  S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

"  De  President  was  sholy  sort  of  contempuse  wid  de  situation, 
and  I  feels  more  liken  a  mule  dan  a  hunter. 

"  De  President  said  sumpin',  I  spect  it  war  from  de  Bible, 
'bout  it  ain't  no  use  slayin'  de  helpless.  Dere  I  wuz  wif  my  b'ar 
done  tied  up,  and  I  think  mighty  fast  to  get  out  of  dat  fix. 

"  *  Stick  him, '  sez  I  to  Massa  Parker,  and  den  I  showed  him 
how  to  do  de  trick.  I  tell  you,  my  honey,  dat  big  rascal  didn't 
las'  much  longer  after  dat  knife  went  into  him. 

"I  say,  Colonel,  you  watch  me  close  an'  you  sholy  gits  a  b'ar. 
Den  he  lafs  and  sez,  '  All  right.  Ho,  I'll  keep  an  eye  onto  you.' 

"We  didn't  do  no  huntin'  on  Sunday,  'ca'se  all  of  us  is 
'ligious.  It  was  awful  quiet  in  de  camp,  as  we  wus  all  rneditatin' 
on  de  foolishness  of  life  and  eatin.'  I  saw  de  President  mos'  every 
minute,  and  I  do  say  dat  he  showed  himself  to  be  such  a  fine,  good 
gentleman  dat  I  was  always  admirin'  of  him. 

GRANDER  THAN  A  WHITE  HOUSE  DINNER. 

"  I  tell  you  we  done  had  a  grand  dinner,  such  like  dey  couldn't 
possibly  have  at  de  White  House.  How  could  dey  git  'possum 
and  b'ar,  which  we  had  wif  sweet  'taters  dat  melt  in  de  President's 
mouf  and  mak'  him  look  so  happy  dat  he  had  a  good  appetite  ? 
Den  we  had  turkey  gobbler,  and  dis  nigger  too  perlite  to  say  dat 
he  eat  more  dan  de  President.  It  done  mak's  me  hungry  ag'in 
when  I  looks  back  on  dat  dinner. 

"  De  President  says  befoah  dinner  dat  he  wants  to  go  on  a 
little  stroll  in  de  woods.  Den  one  of  de  gentlemen  sez  to  de  Presi 
dent  :  '  Mistoo  President,  why  doan  you  take  you  gun  wid  you  ?' 

"De  President  fye  shakes  his  head  an'  walks  away.  He  say  : 
1  No;  I  -ain't  been  alone  since  a  long  time  gone,  an'  I'se  goin'  be 
alone  for  a  little  while  now.' 

"  I  seed  what  he  done.  He  goes  off  an'  sits  down  by  de  crick, 
an'  looks  into  de  water  an'  at  de  woods.  Spec'  he  was  thinkin,' 
too,  but  I  couldn't  tell.  Den  he  gits  up  an'  comes  in  an'  settles 
down  to  business  a-eatin'  of  de  'possum  an'  de  b'ar  an'  de  taters 
an'  de  gobbler,  an'  looks  like  he  was  wholly  happy. 

"De  President  cheer  me  up,  an'  de  rest,  too.     He  tells  me, 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  69 

just  like  it  was  nuffin',  'bout  some  mighty  fine  hunts  he  done  had 
over  in  de  Rockies,  'bout  shootin'  lions  and  moose.  He  say  he 
had  some  mighty  good  times,  'but  Ho! '  he  say,  *  I  gwine  tell  dat 
he  ain'  never  had  no  nicer  time  anywhere  den  right  here  in  dese 
Misippy  woods.'  Dat's  de  very  words  de  Colonel  sez  to  me. 

"  Den  he  talked  to  de  gentlemen  'bout  various  things,  but  I 
ain't  gwine  tell  you  dat,  'case  we  was  talkin'  private. 

"  De  same  hoodoo  was  on  us  de  third  day,  but  I  done  feel 
sure  de  President  gits  a  shot  at  a  b'ar.  He  sholy  did  nearly  git 
one  dat  he  chased  all  de  way  from  8  to  3  o'clock. 

"  Den  what  you  think  dat  scoun'rel  b'ar  do?  He  breaks 
away  from  de  dogs  and  goes  whoppin'  acrost  a  ribber,  and  Ho 
knows  he  is  done  gone  for  good.  Den  I  tole  de  gentlemen  dere 
wan't  no  use  goin'  no  furder. 

CAMP  A  DELIGHTFUL  PLACE. 

"  I  spec,'  sez  de  President,  laffiin',  '  dat  we  ain't  goin'  git  no 
b'ar  dis  trip.' 

"  De  President  he  took  de  skull  of  the  big  b'ar  dat  Mister 
Parker  stick,  and  he  say  dat  he  take  dat  skull  home  to  keep. 
When  we  gets  ready  to  leave  de  camp  de  President  was  de  most 
jolly  of  all  de  gentlemen.  Dey  all  say  we  hates  to  leave  his 
camp  and  de  President  say  it  was  a  d-e-1-i-g-h-t-f-u-l  place,  jes' 
like  dat. 

"Every  people  'round  here  jes'  like  dat  Colonel  Roosevelt 
first  class.  He  talk  wif  all  de  folks  at  Smedes  Station,  and  maiks 
'em  his  good  friends. 

"  De  ride  from  de  camp  to  Smedes  was  de  grandest  dat  I  ever 
seen  down  hyar.  Colonel  Roosevelt  dashed  off  in  de  lead,  and  I 
am  hyar  to  tell  you  dat  he  set  a  hot  pace  for  dem  odder  gentlemen. 
We  made  de  whole  trip  'round  de  woods  in  jes'  forty  minutes,  as 
we  stopped  three  minutes  at  Jackson's. 

"  I  wants  to  tell  you  dat  I  hated  mightily  to  see  de  President 
go  'way,  and  so  did  all  de  odders  down  hyar.  I  kin  only  say  dat 
Jie's  the  finest  No'the'n  gentleman  I  ever  met." 

Ho  said  that  fre  liadlost  only  two  of  fcis  hunting  dogs,  but 


70  MR.  ROOSEVELT S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

added  mournfully  that  Old  Remus,  his  champion  dog,  was  u  all 
swole  up  wid  de  dropsy,''  and  probably  would  not  live  long. 

Collier  is  known  from  Memphis  to  New  Orleans  for  his 
trustworthiness.  He  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  three  miles 
from  Fayette,  and  when  he  grew  up,  during  the  Civil  War,  he  was 
a  slave,  owned  by  Howell  Hines,  a  prominent  man  of  the  South  in 
those  times. 

Collier's  grandfather,  Harrison  Collier,  went  to  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans  with  General  Jackson  and  Thomas  Hines. 

Holt  was  only  thirteen  years  of  age  when  he  killed  his 
first  bear,  while  he  and  his  master  were  out  on  a  hunt  in  the  same 
region  where  the  President  went  for  game. 

CAPTURE  OF  A  BIG  ELK. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  narrates  the  killing  of  an  elk  near  his  ranch, 
"probably  the  last  of  his  race  that  will  ever  be  found  in  our  neigh 
borhood.  It  was  just  before  the  fall  round-up.  An  old  hunter, 
who  was  under  some  obligation  to  me,  told  me  that  he  had  shot  a 
cow  elk  and  had  seen  the  tracks  of  one  or  two  others  not  more 
than  twenty-five  miles  off,  in  a  place  where  the  cattle  rarely  wan 
dered.  Such  a  chance  was  not  to  be  neglected  ;  and,  on  the  first 
free  day,  one  or  my  Elk-horn  foremen,  Will  Dow  by  name,  and 
myself,  took  our  hunting  horses  and  started  off,  accompanied  by 
the  ranch  wagon,  in  the  direction  of  the  probable  haunts  of  the 
doomed  deer. 

'l  Towards  nightfall  we  struck  a  deep  spring  pool,  near  by  the 
remains  of  an  old  Indian  encampment.  It  was  at  the  head  of  a 
great  basin,  several  miles  across,  in  which  we  believed  the  game 
to  lie.  The  wagon  was  halted  and  we  pitched  camp ;  there  was 
plenty  of  dead  wood,  and  soon  the  venison  steaks  were  broiling 
over  the  coals  raked  from  beneath  the  crackling  cotton- wood  logs, 
while  in  the  narrow  valley  the  ponies  grazed  almost  within  the 
circle  of  the  flickering  fire-light.  It  was  in  the  cool  and  pleasant 
month  of  September ;  and  long  after  going  to  bed  we  lay  awake 
under  the  blankets  wa'.ching  the  stars  that  on  clear  nights  always 
shine  with  such  intense  brightness  over  the  lonely  Western  plains. 


MR.   ROOSP:VELT'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  71 

"  We  were  up  and  off  by  the  gray  in  the  morning.  It  was  a 
beautiful  hunting  day ;  the  sundogs  hung  in  the  red  dawn  ;  the 
wind  hardly  stirred  over  the  crisp  grass  ;  and  though  the  sky  was 
cloudless  yet  the  weather  had  that  queer,  smoky,  hazy  look  that 
it  is  most  apt  to  take  on  during  the  time  of  the  Indian  summer. 
From  a  high  spur  of  the  table-land  we  looked  out  far  and  wide 
over  a  great  stretch  of  broken  country,  the  brown  of  whose  hills 
and  valleys  was  varied  everywhere  by  patches  of  dull  red  and 
vivid  yellow,  tokens  that  the  trees  were  already  putting  on  the 
dress  with  which  they  greet  the  mortal  ripening  of  the  year. 

THE  GAME  SIGHTED  AT  LAST. 

"The  deep  and  narrow  but  smooth  ravines  running  up 
towards  the  edges  of  the  plateaus  were  heavily  wooded,  the  bright 
green  tree-tops  rising  to  a  height  they  rarely  reach  in  the  barren 
plains-country ;  and  the  rocky  sides  of  the  sheer  gorges  were 
clad  with  a  thick  growth  of  dwarfed  cedars,  while  here  and  there 
the  trailing  Virginia  creepers  burned  crimson  among  their  som 
bre  masses. 

"  We  hunted  stealthily  up-wind,  across  the  line  of  the  heavily 
timbered  coulisse.  We  soon  saw  traces  of  our  quarry  ;  old  tracks 
at  first,  and  then  the  fresh  footprints  of  a  single  elk — a  bull, 
judging  by  the  size — which  had  come  down  to  drink  at  a  miry 
alkali  pool,  its  feet  slipping  so  as  to  leave  the  marks  of  the  false 
hoofs  in  the  soft  soil.  We  hunted  with  painstaking  and  noiseless 
care  for  many  hours  ;  at  last  as  I  led  old  Manitou  up  to  look  over 
the  edge  of  a  narrow  ravine,  there  was  a  crash  and  movement  in 
the  timber  below  me,  and  immediately  afterwards  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  great  bull  elk  trotting  up  through  the  young  trees 
as  he  gallantly  breasted  the  steep  hill-side  opposite. 

"  When  clear  of  the  woods,  and  directly  across  the  valley  from 
me,  he  stopped  and  turned  half  round,  throwing  his  head  in  the  air 
to  gaze  for  a  moment  at  the  intruder.  My  bullet  struck  too  far 
back,  but,  nevertheless,  made  a  deadly  wound,  and  the  elk  went 
over  the  crest  of  the  hill  at  a  wild,  plunging  gallop.  We  followed 
the  bloody  trail  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  found  him  dead  in  a 


72  MR.   ROOSEVELT  S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

thicket.    Though  of  large  size,  he  yet  had  but  small  antlers,  with 
few  points." 

There  is  an  old  Latin  saying  that  "they  do  not  change  their 
characters  who  change  their  skies."  To  put  it  tersely,  a  man  takes 
himself  with  him  wherever  he  goes.  When  he  crosses  a  river  or 
a  State  line  he  does  not  leave  behind  him  any  of  his  persona! 
traits.  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  the  Bad  Lands  was  in  nowise  different 
from  what  he  had  been  in  the  East,  the  only  modification  being 
such  as  naturally  grew  out  of  new  surroundings.  His  scholarly 
tendencies  might  have  seemed  grotesque  on  a  ranch  among  cow 
boys  and  hunters,  but  he  could  not  leave  one  Roosevelt  in  New 
York  and  develop  another  and  different  Roosevelt  in  the  West. 

KEEPS  CLOSE  COMPANY  WITH  BOOKS. 

Having  been  a  man  of  books  he  could  not  obliterate  his  per 
sonality  and  suddenly  become  a  man  of  cattle  and  horses.  The 
books  must  come  in  somewhere.  To  him  there  was  nothing 
incompatible  between  hunting  bears  and  antelope  and  hunting 
gems  in  the  English  classics.  Books  were  his  companions  ;  while 
he  communed  with  steep  buttes,  wild  canyons  and  boundless 
prairies,  he  kept  company  with  great  minds  and  made  friends  of 
their  brilliant  thoughts.  There  was  no  daily  mail ;  the  letter 
carrier  might  not  arrive  oftner  than  once  a  week,  but  his  coming 
was  an  advent,  for  he  was  sure  to  bring  letters  from  prominent 
men  and  the  latest  and  best  issues  of  the  publishers. 

"Rough  board  shelves,"  says  Mr.  Roosevelt,  in  his  charming 
"Hunting  Trips  of  a  Ranchman,"  "hold  a  number  of  books 
without  which  some  of  the  evenings  would  be  long  indeed.  No 
ranchman  who  loves  sport" — and  nearly  every  one  of  them  does — 
"can  afford  to  be  without  Van  Dyke's  'Still  Hunter,'  Dodge's 
4  Plains  of  the  Great  West,'  or  Caton's  *  Deer  and  Antelope  of 
America'  ;  and  Cones's  'Birds  of  the  Northwest'  will  be  valued 
if  he  cares  at  all  for  natural  history.  As  for  Irving,  Hawthorne, 
Cooper,  Lowell  and  the  other  standbys,  I  suppose  no  man,  either 
East  or  West,  would  willingly  be  long  without  them.  And  for 
lighter  reading  there  are  dreamy  Ik  Marvel,  Burroughs'  breezy 


MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST.  73 

pages,  and  the  quaint,  pathetic  character  sketches  of  the  Southern 
writers,  Cable,  Craddock,  Macon,  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  and  sweet 
Sherwood  Bonner.  And  when  one  is  in  the  Bad  Lands,  he  feels 
as  if  they  somehow  look  just  exactly  as  Poe's  tales  and  poems 
sound." 

Probably  no  other  ranchman  in  all  the  Northwest  had  a  stock 
of  belongings  similar  to  Roosevelt's.  College  bred  men  are  not 
often  found  in  the  Bad  Lands  ;  they  prefer  to  exhibit  their  culture 
in  communities  nearer  the  great  centres  of  civilization  and  refine 
ment.  No  one  would  be  likely  to  obtain  a  university  education 
to  enable  him  to  raise  cattle  and  tame  wild  mustangs.  Roosevelt, 
the  educated  cowboy,  required  the  fellowship  of  books. 

RECREATION  AFTER  THE  DAY'S  LABORS. 

Imagine  him,  after  a  hard  day's  work  of  riding,  hunting  or 
rounding  up  his  herds,  seated  in  his  rude  yet  picturesque  apart 
ment  at  night,  eagerly  perusing  some  historical  work  or  volume 
of  poems,  magazine  of  current  literature,  or  treatise  on  the 
animals  of  our  hemisphere.  Silence  that  is  unbroken  favors  his 
studious  frame  of  mind,  and  with  evident  relish  he  turns  the  pages 
until  the  fatigues  of  the  day  and  the  lateness  of  the  hour  furnish 
suggestions  of  sleep  and  the  rest  that  comes  as  a  blessed  compen 
sation  to  honest  toil. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  sum  up  the  advantages  derived  by  Mr. 
Roosevelt  from  his  sojourn  in  Dakota.  He  became  imbued  with 
the  Western  spirit.  It  is  the  spirit  that  knows  nothing  about  red 
tape.  It  goes  ahead  and  does  things.  There  is  a  freedom  about 
the  great  West  that  is  the  forerunner  of  achievement.  Men  do 
not  grow  old  discussing  how  things  should  be  done.  Before  you 
are  aware  of  what  is  going  on  the  thing  is  accomplished. 

Somewhat  of  that  go-ahead,  impetuous  spirit  manifested  by 
Mr.  Roosevelt  appears  to  have  been  imbibed  from  his  life  on  the 
ranch.  And  this  disposition  is  one  secret  of  his  wonderful  popu 
larity  in  the  Western  States.  He  is  a  man  after  their  own  heart, 
a  man  the  people  can  understand  and  with  whom  they  are  in  per 
fect  sympathy.  He  never  imagined  when  he  went  West  that  he 


74  MR.  ROOSEVELT'S  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  FAR  WEST. 

was  taking  a  step  winch  would  qualify  him  so  effectually  for  the 
office  he  now  occupies,  one  that  cannot  in  any  sense  be  limited  to 
any  one  section  of  the  country.  A  President  should  be  so  consti 
tuted  that  he  can  be  in  close  touch  with  all  parts  of  the  Union. 

It  is  but  natural  that  Mr.  Roosevelt's  most  devoted  followers 
and  friends  should  be  found  among  the  breezy  spirits  of  the  great 
West.  When  he  called  for  a  regiment  of  Rough  Riders  at  the 
outbreak  of  our  war  with  Spain,  it  was  easy  enough  to  enlist  the 
men ;  Roosevelt  was  to  be  the  lieutenant  colonel. 

It  is  further  to  be  noted  that  his  western  life  gave  him  much 
information  on  the  Indian  problem,  and  furnished  him  materials 
for  thoroughly  investigating  this  question  and  reaching  an  intelli 
gent  conclusion. 

EQUAL  RIGHTS  AND  JUSTICE  TO  ALL. 

The  white  men  had  as  good  a  claim  to  land  as  the  Indians, 
for  it  was  government  land,  and  by  the  Homestead  Law  any  set 
tler  could  secure  160  acres  and  along  with  it  a  valid  title.  There 
was  no  good  reason  why  an  Indian  should  lay  claim  to  a  whole 
county,  compared  with  the  size  of  which  the  white  man's  farm 
was  nothing  more  than  an  Irishman's  garden  patch. 

In  his  usual  vigorous  way  Mr.  Roosevelt  says  :  "The  Indians 
should  be  treated  in  just  the  same  way  that  we  treat  the  white 
settlers.  Give  each  his  claim  to  a  quarter-section.  If,  as  gen 
erally  happens,  he  should  decline  this,  then  let  him  share  the  fate 
of  the  thousands  of  white  hunters  who  have  lived  on  the  game 
that  the  settlement  of  the  country  has  exterminated,  and  let  him, 
like  these  whites  who  will  not  work,  perish  from  the  face  of  the 
earth  which  he  encumbers. 

"  The  doctrine  seems  merciless,  and  so  it  is.  But  it  is  just 
and  rational,  for  all  that.  It  does  not  do  to  be  too  merciful  to  the 
few  at  the  cost  of  justice  to  the  many.  The  cattlemen  at  least 
K:eep  herds  and  build  houses  on  the  land.  Yet  I  would  not  for  a 
moment  debar  settlers  from  the  right  of  entry  to  the  cattle  country 
though  their  coming  in  means  the  destruction  of  us  and  our 
industry." 


CHAPTER  V. 
A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

ROOSEVELT'S  NAVAL  HISTORY — APPOINTED  ASSISTANT  SECRETARY 
OF  THE  NAVY — EXCITEMENT  IN  THE  NAVY  DEPARTMENT — 
PREDICTED  THAT  THERE  WOULD  BE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN — VIGOR 
OUS  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CONFLICT — GUN  PRACTICE 
REQUIRED — CALL  FOR  LARGE  APPROPRIATIONS — VIRTUALLY 
AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT — A  REMARKABLE  SPEECH. 
CHOICE  OF  DEWEY  FOR  COMMANDER  OF  PACIFIC  SQUADRON 
SPAIN'S  INFAMOUS  RULE  IN  CUBA — BLOWING  UP  OF  THE 
"MAINE" — ORDERS  SENT  TO  DEWEY — ROOSEVELT'S  RESIGNA 
TION  TO  RECRUIT  THE  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  had  already  written  and  published  his 
"Naval  History  of  the  War  of  1812."  W7hen  first 
announced  it  was  supposed  this  history  would  be  nothing  more 
than  a  rehash  of  histories  already  written  on  the  American  Navy, 
or  such  a  work  as  would  merely  satisfy  the  ambition  for  authorship 
of  a  young  man  not  long  out  of  college. 

No  one  imagined  that  it  would  contribute  very  much  to 
the  knowledge  already  in  the  possession  of  the  public.  The 
style  might  be  new,  the  way  of  putting  things  might  have  some 
little  merit,  but  it  was  thought  the  subject  matter  would  not  com 
mend  the  work  to  critics  or  scholars.  It  would  be  thrown,  like  a 
thousand  other  works,  into  the  world  of  books  and  left  to  its  fate. 

But  this  naval  history  soon  gave  evidence  that  it  was  capable 
of  taking  care  of  itself.  It  was  an  exhaustive  work  ;  it  had  all 
the  marks  of  profound  research  and  careful  preparation;  its  style 
was  picturesque,  vigorous  and  attractive ;  its  accuracy  was  con 
firmed  by  references  of  undoubted  authority ;  it  was  plain  that 
it  was  destined  to  take  high  rank  as  a  standard  history  on  the 
brilliant  achievements  of  our  navy.  It  soon  found  its  way  into 
the  Navy  Department  at  Washington,  and  its  undoubted  merit 

was  fully  recognized. 

75 


76  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  showed  himself  to  be  a  thorough  master  of  his 
subject;  he  was  making  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  historical 
literature,  and  at  the  same  time  was  establishing  his  reputation  as 
an  expert  in  all  naval  matters. 

It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that  when  President  McKinley, 
in  1897,  wanted  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  act  in  con 
junction  with  Secretary  John  D.  Long,  Mr.  Roosevelt  should 
receive  the  appointment.  He  was  eminently  fitted  for  the 
place.  His  whole  political  career  had  marked  him  as  an  unique 
man.  His  record  was  without  a  stain.  He  enjoyed  the  absolute 
confidence  of  the  great  majority  of  his  countrymen — all,  in  fact, 
except  the  New  York  politicians,  whose  nefarious  schemes  and 
practices  he  had  fought  with  so  much  courage  and  success.  He 
went  to  Washington  carrying  with  him  the  same  purposes  and 
high  ideals  that  had  distinguished  him  in  his  whole  previous 
career. 

CONSTERNATION  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT. 

When  it  became  known  that  he  was  to  be  the  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  the  subordinates  in  the  department  were  filled 
with  apprehensions  that  amounted  almost  to  alarm.  They  expected 
his  advent  would  be  somewhat  like  that  of  a  bull  in  a  china 
shop.  They  had  heard  of  his  firm  dealing  with  the  New  York 
police ;  they  knew  much  of  his  prominent  characteristics  and 
resolute  methods,  and  wondered  if  he  were  not  an  Elijah  who 
had  come  to  trouble  Israel. 

"  Many  were  the  conjectures,"  writes  Judge  Advocate  General 
Samuel  C.  Lemly  of  the  Navy,  "as  to  what  course  the  new 
appointee  would  pursue  in  the  Navy  Department,  for  his  reputa 
tion  as  a  reformer  was  both  great  and  widespread,  and,  in  truth, 
none  of  us  was  ready  to  admit  the  need  for  his  own  reformation. 
Moreover,  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  never  served  in  a  subordinate  capac 
ity.  How,  then,  would  he  drop  into  such  a  position  ?  Could  he 
follow  and  assist  as  well  as  lead  and  command  ?  I  recall  distinctly 
that,  thanks  to  the  vigilance  of  our  librarian,  copies  of  the  various 
books  which  the  new  appointee  had  written  suddenly  appeared  in 
the  Navy  Department  Library,  and  there  was  such  a  demand  for 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  77 

these  books  that  I  had  to  wait  until  my  senior  officers  had  read 
before  I  could  even  have  so  much  as  a  look  at  them. 

"  Although  necessarily  new  to  naval  methods  and  administra 
tion,  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  long  been  a  student  of  naval  matters, 
historical  and  otherwise.  I  for  one  soon  found  that  he  possessed 
— having  a  most  retentive  memory — a  very  remarkable  knowl 
edge  of  the  technique  of  the  new  navy,  and  I  was  in  consequence 
constantly  surprised  at  his  off-hand  but  invariably  correct  state 
ment  of  the  batteries,  horsepower,  speed,  thickness  of  armor,  and 
characteristics  of  our  own  and  foreign  naval  vessels  recently  built, 
as  well  as  those  under  construction." 

CAPACITY  FOR  WORK  AND  MASTERY. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  new  Secretary  had  neither  horns 
nor  hoofs.  He  was  just  an  ordinary  man,  with  a  capacity  for 
work  and  for  mastery  of  details  that  singled  him  out  as  one  who 
stood  in  a  class  by  himself.  His  rule  had  always  been  to  work 
hard  when  he  worked,  and  play  hard  when  he  played.  It  was 
soon  evident  that  he  was  not  in  the  Navy  Department  for  recrea 
tion.  Under  his  magic  touch  every  nerve  in  the  place  grew  tense. 
The  department  was  so  well  organized  that  he  had  little  to  do 
except  to  keep  the  machinery  in  motion  and  impart  to  it  a  new 
impulse. 

He  did  not  have  a  very  exalted  opinion  of  the  American 
navy  as  compared  with  the  other  navies  the  world,  although  we 
had  some  good  battleships.  As  to  the  rest,  we  had  a  lot  of  vener 
able  tubs  that  were  good  enough  in  time  of  peace,  but  would 
be  naval  absurdities  in  time  of  war.  'The  excuse  was  that  we 
were  not  a  warlike  nation,  never  made  any  great  account  of  our 
land  and  naval  forces,  and  had  no  idea  we  would  be  involved  in  war 
with  any  foreign  power.  But  now  there  were  clouds  on  the 
horizon  ;  trouble  was  brewing  with  Spain  ;  we  might  need  some 
thing  besides  respectable  tubs  on  the  ocean.  It  would  be  a  poor 
time  to  create  a  navy  after  a  declaration  of  war. 

The  Assistant  Secretary,  while  on  a  visit  of  inspection  to  the 
Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  addressed  a  class  of  naval  cadets  on 


78  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

Washington's  forgotten  maxim:  "To  be  prepared  for  war  is  the 
most  effectual  means  to  promote  peace."  He  argued  in  this 
address,  not  that  we  were  preparing  for  war,  but  that  preparation 
for  war  was  the  surest  guaranty  for  peace.  He  believed  that 
arbitration  was  an  excellent  thing,  but  that  ultimately  to  have 
this  country  at  peace  with  foreign  nations  was  to  place  reliance 
upon  a  first-class  fleet  of  first-class  battleships,  rather  than  upon 
any  arbitration  treaty  man  could  devise. 

IGNOBLE  PEACE  WORSE  THAN  WAR. 

"  We  but  keep  to  the  traditions  of  Washington,"  said  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  "  to  the  traditions  of  all  great  Americans  who  struggled 
for  the  real  greatness  of  America,  when  we  strive  to  build  up  those 
fighting  qualities  for  the  lack  of  which  in  a  nation,  as  in  an  indi 
vidual,  no  refinement,  no  culture,  no  wealth,  no  material  prosperity, 
can  atone.  While  we  are  sincere  and  earnest  in  our  advocacy  of 
peace,  we  must  not  forget  that  an  ignoble  peace  is  worse  than  any 
war.  We  should  engrave  in  our  legislative  halls  those  splendid 
lines  of  Lowell : 

' ' '  Come,  Peace  !  not  like  a  mourner  bowed 

For  honor  lost  and  dear  ones  wasted, 
But  proud,  to  meet  a  people  proud, 
With  eyes  that  tell  of  triumph  tasted  !' 

"All  the  great  masterful  races  have  been  fighting  races. 
Cowardice  in  a  race,  as  in  an  individual,  is  the  unpardonable  sin. 
The  timid  man  cannot  fight,  or  the  selfish,  short-sighted,  or  foolish 
man  who  will  not  take  the  steps  that  will  enable  him  to  fight, 
stand  on  almost  the  same'  plane." 

A  year  before  our  war  with  Spain  broke  out  Mr.  Roosevelt 
made  the  following  significant  statements  : 

"  The  enemies  we  may  have  to  face  will  come  from  over  the  sea ; 
they  may  come  from  Europe,  or  they  may  come  from  Asia. 
Events  move  fast  in  the  West ;  but  this  generation  has  been 
forced  to  see  that  they  move  even  faster  in  the  oldest  East.  Our 
interests  are  as  great  in  the  Pacific  as  in  the  Atlantic,  in  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  as  in  the  West  Indies.  Merely  for  the  protec- 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  79 

tion  of  our  own  shores,  we  need  a  great  navy;  and  what  is  more, 
we  need  it  to  protect  our  interests  in  the  islands  from  which  it  is 
possible  to  command  our  shores  and  to  protect  our  commerce  on 
the  high  seas." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  studied  the  needs  of  our  navy  in  the  possible 
event  of  war.  Practice — thorough  practice  behind  the  guns — he 
declared  to  be  indispensable.  Men  should  learn  how  to  shoot,  and 
only  actual  practice  could  teach  them  this.  He  began  to  buy 
guns  and  ammunition,  and  all  that  was  needed  to  fully  equip  our 
warships.  Repairs  on  old  vessels  went  on  while  work  was  being 
done  on  the  new.  He  laid  in  large  supplies  of  coal  at  every  naval 
supply  station.  He  ordered  every  ship's  crew  recruited  to  its  full 
strength. 

"  We  shall  be  compelled  to  fight  Spain  within  a  year,"  he 
said  to  a  friend  months  before  the  cruiser  "  Maine  "  was  blown  up 
in  Havana  harbor. 

"In  ordinary  routine  matters,"  he  said,  "if  a  man  does 
ordinarily  well  I  am  satisfied,  but  if  he  doesn't  do  the  work  of 
importance  in  the  navy  with  the  snap  and  vigor  I  believe  is 
necessary,  I'll  pinch  him  till  he  squeals." 

SAW  THE  STORM  OF  WAR  APPROACHING. 

This  is  evidence  that  he  had  a  presentiment  of  coming  trouble 
and  believed  the  time  was  at  hand  for  rapid  work  and  thorough 
preparation.  There  could  be  no  shirking  now,  no  easy-going,  slip 
shod  way  of  administering  the  naval  affairs  of  the  nation.  He 
was  not  a  mere  figurehead  himself,  and  he  wanted  no  figureheads 
around  him.  For  the  battleships  he  wanted  the  best  crews  that 
could  be  obtained,  and  these  must  be  thoroughly  drilled  up  to  the 
point  of  the  greatest  efficiency. 

"It  is  useless,"  he  said,  "to  spend  millions  of  dollars  in 
building  perfect  fighting  machines  unless  we  make  the  personnel 
which  is  to  handle  these  machines  equally  perfect.  We  have  an 
excellent  navy  now,  but  we  never  can  afford  to  relax  our  efforts  to 
make  it  better  still.  Next  time  we  may  have  to  face  some  enemy 
far  more  formidable  than  Spain.  In  my  j  udgment,  the  personnel 


gO  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

bill  will  markedly    increase  the  efficiency  of  our  already  efficient 
officers." 

A  story  is  related  that  shows  what  Mr.  Roosevelt  considered 
to  be  the  real  needs  of  the  navy.  Shortly  after  his  appointment 
he  asked  for  an  appropriation  of  $800,000  for  the  purchase  of  ammu 
nition.  It  was  granted,  and  a  few  months  later  he  asked  for 
another  appropriation  of  $500,000  for  the  same  purpose.  When 
asked  what  had  become  of  the  first  appropriation,  he  replied : 
' '  Every  cent  of  it  has  been  spent  for  powder  and  shot,  and  every 
bit  of  powder  and  shot  has  been  fired."  When  he  was  asked  what 
he  would  do  with  the  additional  $500,000,  he  replied:  uUse  every 
dollar  of  that,  too,  within  the  next  thirty  days  in  practice 

shooting." 

PLANS  FOR  INCREASING  THE  NAVY. 

It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  in  all  Mr.  Roosevelt  planned,  all  the 
measures  adopted  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  our  navy,  and  in  all 
the  changes  he  adopted  to  better  the  service,  he  was  ably  seconded 
by  the  majority  of  our  naval  officers.  They,  more  than  others,  saw 
the  necessity  for  doing  the  work  he  had  so  resolutely  undertaken, 
and  being  loyal,  brave  and  competent,  they  took  pride  in  the 
adoption  of  the  most  energetic  means  for  accomplishing  the 
desired  result.  And,  below  the  officers,  every  man  could  be 
depended  upon  to  make  for  himself  a  record.  There  was  not  one 
who  was  not  prepared  to  suffer  any  privation,  encounter  any 
danger,  plunge  into  the  thick  of  battle,  if  battle  should  come,  and 
add  glory  to  the  history  of  our  navy,  whose  achievements  in  the 
past  have  been  the  pride  of  the  nation. 

Such  was  the  spirit  that  animated  officers  and  subordinates. 
How  grandly  it  was  exhibited  in  the  naval  battles  and  victories 
that  put  a  sudden  termination  to  our  war  with  Spain  is  known  to 
all  men.  There  was  no  need  of  preparation  so  far  as  the  gallant 
heroes  themselves  were  concerned.  They  were  ready.  They 
stood  at  attention,  waiting  to  receive  commands.  If  there  was  a 
single  coward  among  them  he  has  never  been  discovered.  They 
were  animated  by  the  heroic  spirit  displayed  by  Paul  Jones  in 
the  Revolution  ;  and  Perry  on  Lake  Erie  in  the  War  of  1812. 


Copyright.  Harris  &  Ewing,  Washington,  D.C. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


EMPEROR  WILLIAM  AND  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  REVIEWING 
GERMAN  TROOPS 

On  Roosevelt's  visit  to  Berlin  he  witnessed  12,000  soldiers  engaged  in  a  mimic 
battle,  arranged  especially  in  his  honor.  Afterward  the  Emperor  and  the  Colonel 
reviewed  the  regiments,  the  Emperor  remarking:  "You  are  the  only  private 
citizen  who  was  ever  invited  to  witness  a  mimic  battle  by  German  troops." 


Copyright  1910  American  Press  Association 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  A.B.,  LL.D.,  Ph.D.,  D.C.L. 
This  photograph  was  taken  in  London  while  the  Colonel  was  on  hi» 
way  to  the  Cambridge  University  to  receive  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Law*. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT   MAKING  HIS  REMARKABLE  SPEECH. 

The  Colonel  expressed  himself  with  remarkable  frankness  while  speaking 
at  the  Guildhall,  after  having  received  the  honorary  freedom  of  the  City  of 
London.  He  dealt  with  the  position  in  Egypt,  saying,  amongst  other  things: 
"  If  you  feel  that  you  have  not  the  right  to  be  in  Egypt  and  if  you  do  not  wish 
to  establish  and  to  keep  order  there,  then  by  all  means  get  out  of  Egypt." 


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Copyright  1910  by  Paul  Thompson 

COLONEL   ROOSEVELT  ON   BOAT,   RESPONDING 
TO  CHEERS. 

The  sound  of  booming  cannon,  shrieking  whistles  and  cheering 
multitudes  was  almost  deafening  while  our  returning  Hero  was  landing. 


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A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  81 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not,  therefore,  direct  his  energies  so  much 
to  the  officers  and  crews  as  to  other  matters.  The  crews  needed 
gnn  practice,  and  this  he  gave  them.  It  grieved  the  close-fisted 
economists  in  Congress — men  who  wanted  no  measure  adopted  for 
any  object  unless  it  could  be  done  cheap — to  see  so  much  money 
wasted  in  powder  and  shot — literally  burnt  up  and  fired  off. 
Later  events  proved  the  wisdom  of  burning  money  and  shooting 
it  away.  It  cost  something  to  turn  a  raw  middy  into  a  good  gun 
ner,  but  it  was  a  good  investment.  In  the  battles  that  followed, 
the  "men  behind  the  guns"  won  the  victories,  and  they  did  it 
because  they  knew  how  to  shoot. 

THE  MAN  WHO  ORGANIZED  VICTORY. 

A  recent  authority  says  of  Mr.  Roosevelt :  "As  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  he  was  virtually  he;id  of  the  department. 
He  was  a  Carnot  who  'organized  victory.'  He  foresaw  the 
Spanish  war  a  year  before  it  came,  and  collected  ammunition, 
insisted  on  the  practice  for  improving  marksmanship  on  board  all 
the  vessels  and  made  the  navy  ready.'1  Said  the  late  Senator 
Cushman  K.  Davis,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  foreign  rela 
tions  :  "If  it  had  not  been  for  Roosevelt,  Dewey  would  not  have 
been  able  to  strike  the  blow  that  he  dealt  at  Manila.  Roosevelt's 
sagacity,  energy  and  promptness  saved  us. 

Speaking  of  being  prepared  for  war  in  the  event  of  its  coming 
Mr.  Roosevelt  said : 

"Even  if  the  enemy  did  not  interfere  with  our  efforts,  which 
they  undoubtedly  would,  it  would  take  from  three  to  six  months 
after  the  outbreak  of  a  war  for  which  we  were  unprepared  before 
we  could  in  the  slightest  degree  remedy  our  unreadiness.  We 
must  therefore  make  up  our  minds  once  for  all  to  the  fact  that  it 
is  too  late  to  make  ready  for  war  when  the  fight  has  once  begun. 
The  preparation  must  come  before  that. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  Civil  War,  none  of  these  conditions  applied. 
In  1861  we  had  a  good  fleet,  and  the  Southern  Confederacy  had  not 
a  ship.  We  were  able  to  blockade  the  Southern  ports  at  once,  and 
we  could  improvise  engines  of  war  more  than  sufiicient  to  put 

6— M.I,. 


82  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

against  those  of  an  enemy  which  also  had  to  improvise  them,  and 
who  labored  under  even  more  disadvantages.  The  *  Monitor7 
was  got  ready  in  the  nick  of  time  to  meet  the  'Merrimac,' 
because  the  Confederates  had  to  plan  and  build  the  latter  while  we 
were  building  and  planning  the  former  ;  but  if  ever  we  have  to  go 
to  war  with  a  modern  military  power  we  shall  find  its  '  Merrimacs' 
already  built,  and  it  will  then  be  altogether  too  late  to  build 
*  Monitors '  to  meet  them. 

"  The  enemies  we  may  have  to  face  will  come  from  over  the 
sea ;  they  may  come  from  Europe,  or  they  may  come  from  Asia. 
Events  move  fast  in  the  West,  but  this  generation  has  been  forced 
to  see  that  they  move  even  faster  in  the  oldest  East.  Our  interests 
are  as  great  in  the  Pacific  as  in  the  Atlantic,  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
as  in  the  West  Indies.  Merely  for  the  protection  of  our  shores 
we  need  a  great  navy,  and  what  is  more,  we  need  it  to  protect  our 
interests  in  the  islands  from  which  it  is  possible  to  command  our 
shores  and  to  protect  our  commerce  on  the  high  seas. 

MUST  HAVE  STRONG  BATTLESHIPS. 

"  Still  more  is  it  necessary  to  have  a  fleet  of  great  battleships 
if  we  intend  to  live  up  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  to  insist  upon 
its  observance  in  the  two  Americas  and  the  islands  on  either  side 
of  them.  If  a  foreign  power,  whether  in  Europe  or  in  Asia,  should 
determine  to  assert  its  position  in  those  lands  wherein  we  feel  that 
our  influence  should  be  supreme,  there  is  but  one  way  in  which  we 
can  effectively  interfere.  Diplomacy  is  utterly  useless  when  there 
is  no  force  behind  it ;  the  diplomat  is  the  servant,  not  the  master, 
of  the  soldier.  The  prosperity  of  peace,  commercial  and  material 
prosperity,  gives  no  weight  whatever  when  the  clash  of  arms  comes. 

"  Even  great  naked  strength  is  useless  if  there  is  no  imme 
diate  means  through  which  that  strength  can  manifest  itself.  If 
we  mean  to  protect  the  people  of  the  lands  who  look  to  us  for  pro 
tection  from  tyranny  and  aggression ;  if  we  mean  to  uphold  our 
Interests  in  the  teeth  of  the  formidable  Old  World  powers,  we 
can  only  do  it  by  being  ready  at  any  time,  if  the  provocation  is 
sufficient,  to  meet  them  on  the  seas  where  the  battle  for  supremacy 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  83 

must  be  fought.  Unless  we  are  prepared  so  to  meet  them  let  us 
abandon  all  talk  of  devotion  to  the  Monroe"  Doctrine  or  to  the 
honor  of  the  American  name." 

If  it  wishes  to  retain  its  self-respect,  most  certainly  this  nation 
cannot  stand  still  and  keep  undimmed  the  honored  traditions 
inherited  from  the  men  whose  swords  founded  and  preserved  it. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  asks  that  the  work  of  upbuilding  our  navy  and  of 
putting  the  United  States  where  it  should  be  go  forward  without 
hesitation.  The  whole  country  should  ask  it,  and  did,  not  in  the 
interest  of  war,  but  in  the  interest  of  peace.  A  nation  should  never 
fight  unless  forced  to  fight,  but  it  should  always  be  ready  to  fight. 
The  mere  fact  that  it  is  in  trim  for  fighting  will  generally  spare 
it  the  necessity  of  fighting. 

A  POWERFUL  NAVY  PRESERVES  PEACE. 

"  If  this  country  now  had  a  fleet  of  twenty-five  ships  of  battle 
their  existence  would  make  it  all  the  more  likely  that  we  should 
not  have  war.  It  is  very  important  that  we  should  as  a  race  keep 
the  virile  fighting  qualities  and  should  be  ready  to  use  them  at 
need ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  important  to  use  them  unless  there  is  need. 
One  of  the  surest  ways  to  attain  these  qualities  is  to  keep  our  navy 
in  first-class  trim. 

1 '  There  never  is  and  never  has  been  on  our  part  a  desire  to  use 
a  weapon  because  it  has  been  well  tempered.  There  is  not  the 
least  danger  that  the  possession  of  a  good  navy  will  render  this 
country  overbearing  towards  its  neighbors.  The  direct  contrary 
is  the  truth.  An  unmanly  desire  to  avoid  a  quarrel  is  often  the 
surest  way  to  precipitate  one,  and  utter  unreadiness  to  fight  is 
even  surer. 

"  If  in  the  future  we  have  war  it  will  almost  certainly  come 
from  some  action  or  lack  of  action  on  our  part  in  the  way  of  refus 
ing  to  accept  responsibilities  at  the  proper  time,  or  failing  to 
prepare  for  war  when  war  does  not  threaten.  An  ignoble  peace  is 
even  worse  than  an  unsuccessful  war,  but  an  unsuccessful  war 
should  leave  behind  it  a  legacy  of  bitter  memories  which  would 
hurt  our  national  development  for  a  generation  to  come.  It  is  true 


84  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

that  no  nation  could  actually  conquer  us,  owing  to  our  isolated 
position,  but  we  could  be  seriously  harmed,  even  materially,  by 
disasters  that  stopped  far  short  of  conquest ;  and  in  these  matters, 
which  are  far  more  important  than  things!  material,  we  could 
readily  be  damaged  beyond  repair. 

"  No  material  loss  can  begin  to  compensate  for  the  loss  of 
national  self-respect.  The  damage  to  our  commercial  interests 
by  the  destruction  of  one  of  our  coast  cities  would  be  nothing  as 
compared  to  the  humiliation  which  would  be  felt  by  every  Amer 
ican  worthy  of  the  name  if  we  had  to  submit  to  such  an  injury 
without  amply  avenging  it.  It  has  been  finely  said  that  '  A  gen 
tleman  is  one  who  is  willing  to  lay  down  his  life  for  little  things;' 
that  is,  for  those  things  which  seem  little  to  the  man  who  cares 
only  whether  shares  rise  or  fall  in  value,  and  to  the  timid 
doctrinaire  who  preaches  timid  peace  from  his  cloistered  study. 

THE  HIGHEST  TYPE  OF  NATION. 

"  Much  of  that  which  is  best  and  highest  in  national  char 
acter  is  made  up  of  glorious  memories  and  traditions.  The  fight 
well  fought,  the  life  honorably  lived,  the  death  bravely  met — 
those  count  for  more  in  building  a  high  and  fine  type  of  temper 
in  a  nation  than  any  possible  success  in  the  stock  market,  than 
any  possible  prosperity  in  commerce  or  manufactures.  A  rich 
banker  may  be  a  valuable  and  useful  citizen,  but  not  a  thousand 
rick  bankers  can  leave  to  the  country  such  a  heritage  as  Farragut 
left,  when,  lashed  in  the  rigging  of  the  'Hartford,'  he  forged 
past  the  forts  and  over  the  unseen  death  below,  to  try  his  wooden 
stern  against  the  ironclad  hull  of  the  great  Confederate  ram. 

"  The  people  of  some  given  section  of  our  country  may  be 
better  off  because  a  shrewd  and  wealthy  man  has  built  up  therein 
a  great  manufacturing  business,  or  has  extended  a  line  of  railroad 
past  its  doors,  but  the  whole  nation  is  better,  the  whole  nation  is 
braver,  because  Gushing  pushed  his  little  torpedo  boat  through 
the  darkness  to  sink  beside  the  sinking  '  Albemarle.' 

"  Every  feat  of  heroism  makes  us  forever  indebted  to  the 
man  who  performed  it.  All  daring  and  courage,  all  iron  endur- 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  85 

ance  of  misfortune,  all  devotion  to  the  ideal  of  honor  and  the 
glory  of  the  flag,  make  for  a  finer  and  a  nobler  type  of  manhood. 
It  is  not  only  those  who  do  and  endure  who  are  benefited,  but  also 
the  countless  thousands  who  are  not  themselves  called  upon  to 
face  the  peril,  to  show  the  strength,  or  to  win  the  reward.  All  of 
us  lift  our  heads  higher  because  those  of  our  countrymen  whose 
trade  it  is  to  meet  danger  have  met  it  well  and  bravely.  All  of 
us  are  poorer  for  every  base  or  ignoble  deed  done  by  an  American, 
for  every  instance  of  selfishness  or  weakness  or  folly  on  the  part 
of  the  people  as  a  whole.  We  are  all  worse  off  when  any  of  us 
fails  at  any  point  in  his  duty  toward  the  State  in  time  of  peace,  or 
his  duty  toward  the  State  in  time  of  war.  If  ever  we  had  to 
meet  defeat  at  the  hands  of  a  foreign  foe,  or  had  to  submit  tamely 
to  wrong  or  insult,  every  man  among  us  worthy  of  the  name  of 
an  American  would  feel  dishonored  and  debased. 

ALL  SHARE  THE  HONORS  OF  OUR  HEROES. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  memory  of  every  triumph  won  by 
Americans,  by  just  so  much  helps  to  make  each  American  nobler 
and  better.  Every  man  among  us  is  more  fit  to  meet  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  citizenship  because  of  the  perils  over  which, 
in  the  past,  the  nation  has  triumphed  ;  because  of  the  blood  and 
sweat  and  tears,  the  labor  and  the  anguish  through  which,  in  the 
days  that  have  gone,  our  forefathers  moved  on  to  triumph. 

"There  are  higher  things  in  this  life  than  the  soft  and  easy 
enjoyment  of  material  comfort.  It  is  through  strife  or  the  readi 
ness  for  strife  that  a  nation  must  win  greatness.  We  ask  for  a 
great  navy  partly  because  we  think  that  the  possession  of  such  a 
navy  is  the  surest  guarantee  of  peace,  and  partly  because  we  feel 
that  no  national  life  is  worth  having  if  the  nation  is  not  willing, 
when  the  need  shall  arise,  to  stake  everything  on  the  supreme 
arbitration  of  war,  and  to  pour  out  its  blood,  its  treasure,  and  its 
tears  like  water,  rather  than  to  submit  to  the  loss  of  honor  and 
renown. 

"  In  closing,  let  me  repeat  that  we  ask  for  a  great  navy,  we 
ask  for  an  armament  fit  for  the  nation's  need,  not  primarily  to 


*fi  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

fight,  but  to  avert  fighting.  Preparedness  deters  the  foe,  and 
maintains  right  by  the  show  of  ready  might  without  the  use  of 
violence.  Peace,  like  freedom,  is  not  a  gift  that  tarries  long  in 
the  hands  of  cowards,  or  of  those  too  feeble  or  too  short-sighted  to 
deserve  it ;  and  we  ask  to  be  given  the  means  to  insure  that  hon 
orable  peace  which  alone  is  worth  having." 

When  war  was  declared  between  the  United  States  and  Spain 
there  was  a  marked  difference  between  our  land  and  naval  forces 
in  the  matter  of  preparation.  The  regular  army  was  limited  to 
25,000  men,  and  even  at  this  limit  the  ranks  were  not  full.  Presi 
dent  McKinley  called  for  125,000  volunteers.  They  appeared  to 
leap  from  the  ground,  but  there  was  no  uniform  for  them — no 
adequate  equipment,  and  no  chance  of  putting  them  in  the  field 
until  a  thousand  details  had  been  attended  to  and  a  vast  amount 
of  preparation  had  been  carried  on,  thus  producing  hurrying,  delays 
and  confusion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  navy  was  ready  for  the  fray. 
There  had  been  a  man  in  Washington  who  looked  after  that  mat 
ter,  and  although  it  was  necessary  to  purchase  some  minor  vessels 
and  charter  others,  we  were  not  unprepared  for  the  conflict. 

NAVAL  FORCES  READY  FOR  ACTION. 

The  officers  who  were  to  captain  our  squadrons  were  person 
ally  selected  by  the  Assistant  Secretary.  One  of  those  placed  in 
command  was  Dewey,  whose  name  was  suggested  to  the  naval 
council  as  a  competent  and  efficient  officer. 

"Dewey!"  exclaimed  one  of  the  board  who  knew  the  sailor 
well.  " Dewey  is  a  dude." 

"  What  of  that  ?  "  demanded  Roosevelt. 

"Why,  you  are  the  last  man  I  should  expect  to  want  to 
advance  a  dude." 

"I  didn't  want  to  advance  him,"  said  Mr.  Roosevelt.  ''I'll 
leave  that  to  you — afterward.  All  I  want  is  a  man  over  there — 
some  fellow  who  will  fight  and  make  war.  I  don't  care  what  kind 
of  a  collar  he  wears  ;  that  is,  so  long  as  it  is  some  kind  of  a  linen 
collar." 

As  already  stated,  Mr.  Roosevelt  foresaw  the  inevitable  rup- 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  87 

ture  between  our  government  and  that  of  Spain.  Events  were 
hurrying  swiftly  to  a  crisis.  The  day  of  doom  that  shocked  high 
heaven  was  fast  approaching.  No  nation  can  forever  escape  a 
reckoning  whose  hands  are  stained  with  blood.  The  cry  of  the 
oppressed,  the  appeal  for  help  from  starving  multitudes,  the 
dying  moans  of  helpless  men,  women  and  children  could  no 
longer  go  unheeded.  There  is  a  higher  law  that  asserts  itself  in 
spite  of  thrones ;  it  is  the  law  of  justice  and  humanity. 

For  many  years  the  "Queen  of  the  Antilles"  had  been  the 
victim  of  Spanish  greed  and  cruelty  ;  the  foot  of  the  haughty 
Castilian  had  been  placed  upon  her  neck.  On  the  very  threshold 
of  this  land  of  ours,  with  all  its  boasted  liberty  and  its  proud 
record  for  defending  the  rights  of  humanity,  scenes  of  barbarity 
and  ruffianly  cruelty  had  been  enacted  that  were  enough  to  make 
even  savages  blush. 

BRAVE  CUBANS  FIGHTING  FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 

Through  all  these  years  of  misgovernment,  extortion,  injus 
tice  and  rapine,  a  few  brave  spirits  in  Cuba  had  resisted  their 
brazen  foe — had  appealed  to  the  Cuban  people  to  rise  in  resistance 
to  their  oppressor,  and  had  fought  bravely  for  the  overthrow  of 
tyranny.  But  even  heroes  cannot  always  win  battles,  and  for  the 
time  may  appear  to  be  shedding  their  blood  in  a  hopeless  cause. 
It  is,  however,  only  in  appearance.  As  "the  blood  of  martyrs  is 
the  seed  of  the  church,"  so  the  blood  of  patriots,  sooner  or  later, 
bears  fruit  in  the  great  battle  for  human  freedom. 

General  Campos,  with  his  Spanish  army,  did  not  succeed  in 
quelling  the  spirit  of  revolt  that  was  rife  among  the  Cuban  people- 
He  was  recalled,  and  General  Weyler,  who  may  well  bear  the 
base  name  of  the  modern  Caligula,  was  sent  to  enact  more  severe 
measures.  He  had  ruled  in  the  Philippines  with  an  iron  hand, 
and  this  was  sufficient  reason  for  sending  him  to  Cuba.  In  the 
chamber  of  horrors  that  commemorates  rulers  branded  with  eter 
nal  infamy,  Weyler  holds  the  most  conspicuous  place.  He  is  the 
presiding  genius  over  the  motley  crew  whose  bloody  deeds  have 
called  down  the  burning  execrations  of  mankind.  It  is  one  of  the 


88  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

mysteries  of  Providence  that  a  monster  so  black  and  foul  should 
be  permitted  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Weyler's  notorious  "  reconcentrado "  order,  which  huddled 
the  inhabitants  of  Cuba  into  the  towns,  there  to  die  of  hunger  and 
starvation — or,  if  they  escaped  this  fate,  to  pine  in  sickness  and 
want — was  the  very  refinement  of  barbarity.  The  helpless  vic 
tims  of  his  infernal  atrocity  perished  by  thousands. 

Our  whole  country  was  stirred  by  this  appalling  spectacle. 
Many  persons  found  it  hard  to  believe  that  such  inhuman  deeds 
were  being  enacted  at  our  very  door.  Several  representatives  of 
our  Government  went  to  Cuba  to  get  a  near  view  of  the  situation 
and  see  what  truth  there  really  was  in  the  reports  that  had  shocked 
every  moral  sense  of  the  American  people. 

THRILLING  SPEECH  IN  THE  SENATE. 

Among  others  who  visited  Cuba  was  Senator  John  M.  Thurs- 
ton,  of  Nebraska,  who  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  an  estimable 
lady  then  in  her  last  illness.  She  witnessed  the  horrors,  the  half 
of  which  ^ad  not  been  told,  saw  the  pale,  ghastly  faces  of  men, 
women,  children,  and,  turning  away  finally  from  spectacles  that 
froze  her  blood  and  made  her  heart-sick,  asked  with  her  dying 
breath  that  her  husband  should  promise  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  the 
Senate  at  Washington  and  plead  the  cause  of  bleeding  Cuba. 

When  her  sorrowing  husband  rose  to  address  the  Senate,  he 
said :  "  I  have  a  right  to  speak.  I  give  you  a  message  from 
silent  lips  ;  and  if  I  held  my  peace  when  such  a  question  is  under 
discussion,  if  I  refrained  from  testifying  to  the  atrocious  cruelties 
inflicted  upon  the  people  of  Cuba,  I  should  falter  in  my  trust ;  I 
should  fail  in  my  duty  to  one  whose  heart  was  broken  while  a 
nation  hesitated." 

Such  an  appeal  was  not  made  for  effect.  Thrilling  and 
earnest  as  it  was,  it  was  more  than  justified  by  the  facts  in  the 
situation. 

When  the  cruiser  "  Maine"  was  blown  up  in  Havana  harbor, 
on  February  15,  1898,  it  was  conceded  by  all  thoughtful  men  that 
war  was  inevitable.  Roosevelt's  prophecy  was  coming  true  with 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  89 

startling  fulfillment.  President  McKinley  was  opposed  to  war, 
except  as  a  last  resort.  His  position  was  right ;  he  knew  it  to  be 
so,  and  he  refused  to  rush  into  a  conflict  with  a  foreign  power 
until  all  means  for  settling  the  trouble  had  been  exhausted. 
There  are  still  those  who  believe  that  if  he  could  have  had  a  free 
hand  war  would  have  been  averted. 

But  such  an  infamous  deed  as  the  blowing  up  of  the  "  Maine  " 
could  not  be  condoned  by  a  people  possessed  of  any  courage  and 
self-respect.  There  was  not  water  enough  in  all  the  southern 
seas  to  wash  out  the  stain  of  such  a  crime.  The  nation  promptly 
addressed  itself  to  the  stern  arbitrament  of  the  sword. 

FIRST  DESPATCH  SENT  TO  DEWEY. 

On  February  25th,  Mr.  Roosevelt  sent  a  confidential  despatch 
to  Dewey,  in  which  he  said : 

"  Order  the  squadron,  except  '  Monocacy  '  to  Hong  Kong. 
Keep  full  of  coal.  In  the  event  of  a  declaration  of  war  with 
Spain  your  duty  will  be  to  see  that  the  Spanish  squadron  does 
not  leave  the  Asiatic  coast,  and  then  offensive  operatk  G  in  Philip 
pine  Islands.  Keep  l  Olympia '  until  further  orders.  A  footnote 
by  the  Bureau  of  Navigation  says  :  "  '  Olympia '  had  had  orders 
to  proceed  to  United  States."  This  despatch  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
was  the  first  that  was  sent  by  our  government  in  regard  to  the 
taking  of  the  Philippines. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  preparations  for  the  coming  conflict  reached 
to  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  When  Admiral  Dewey  arrived  at 
Hong  Kong  with  our  Pacific  squadron  he  found  large  stores  of 
coal,  ammunition,  provisions  and  all  other  supplies  that  could 
possibly  be  needed  to  put  the  fleet  in  the  very  best  condition  for 
active  operations.  It  was  at  Roosevelt's  suggestion  and  urgent 
solicitation  that  the  order  from  the  Navy  Department,  which  has 
since  become  famous,  was  sent  to  Dewey,  and  he  was  directed  to 
proceed  to  Manila  and  "  capture  or  destroy  the  ships  of  the 
enemy." 

The  brilliant  outcome  of  that  move  on  the  part  of  the  com 
mander  is  proof  that  Roosevelt  was  not  mistaken  in  his  man. 


90  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAYY. 

The  "dude  "  was  master  of  the  situation,  and  in  one  day  stepped 
into  the  front  rank  of  naval  heroes.  If  the  roar  of  his  guns,  that 
shook  old  Spain  to  the  centre,  could  have  been  interpreted,  it 
would  have  said  in  the  most  emphatic  tones,  "  If  you  have  any 
more  '  dudes '  of  this  sort  they  are  eligible  to  appointment  in  the 
United  States  naval  service."  The  question  was  not  whether 
Dewey  was  "  well  dressed,"  but  whether  he  could  fight,  and,  in 
truth,  it  must  be  said  that  at  Manila  his  clothes  did  not  seem  to 
trouble  him. 

A  writer  gives  this  account  of  the  Assistant  Secretary's 
unexpected  action  :  "Activity  in  the  Navy  Department  was  not 
enough  for  a  man  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  calibre.  Late  in  April, 
1898,  he  said  to  one  of  the  naval  officials  :  '  There  is  nothing 
more  for  me  to  do  here.  I've  got  to  get  into  the  fight  myself.'  " 

RESOLVED  TO  TAKE  THE  FIELD. 

"  His  *  strenuous  '  nature  could  not  be  reconciled  to  inactivity. 
To  have  no  part  in  a  war  that  involved  the  honor  and  prestige  of 
the  nation  was  a  thought  too  humiliating  to  be  borne.  He  knew 
the  calibre  of  the  men  on  the  western  plains  and  ranches — the  stuff 
of  which  they  were  made — and  he  felt  sure  that  once  in  the  fight 
they  would  render  an  account  of  themselves  that  history  would 
record  in  glowing  terms. 

"  There  were  rumors  current  before  he  actually  resigned  of 
his  intention  to  do  so,  and  of  his  proposed  plan  of  raising  a  cow 
boy  regiment  for  Dr.  Leonard  Wood  and  himself  to  lead  to  Cuba. 
Leading  newspapers  at  once  urged  him  to  remain  at  Washington. 
They  told  him  that  he  was  the  man  for  the  place,  and  they  warned 
him  that  he  was  '  ruining  his  career.'  They  said  there  are  plenty 
of  men  to  stop  bullets,  but  very  few  who  could  manage  a  navy. 
But  he  resigned,  nevertheless,  in  due  and  official  form,  on 
May  6th." 

The  correspondence  which  passed  between  Secretary  Long 
and  Mr.  Roosevelt  with  reference  to  his  retirement  from  the  Navy 
Department  is  something  out  of  the  ordinary  in  such  proceedings. 
Under  date  of  May  6,  1898,  Mr.  Roosevelt  wrote  to  Secretary  Long, 


A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  91 

inclosing  a  letter  to  the  President  tendering  his  resignation  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  saying : 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary :  Let  me  add  one  word  personally.  I 
don't  suppose  I  shall  ever  have  a  chief  tinder  whom  I  shall  enjoy 
serving  as  I  have  enjoyed  serving  under  you,  nor  one  toward 
whom  I  shall  feel  the  same  affectionate  regard.  It  is  a  good  thing 
for  a  man  to  have,  as  I  have  had  in  you,  a  chief  whose  whole  con 
duct  in  office,  as  seen  by  those  most  intimately  connected  with  him. 
has  been  guided  solely  by  resolute  disinterestedness  and  single- 
minded  devotion  to  the  public  interest. 

"  I  hate  to  leave  you  more  than  I  can  say.  I  deeply  appreci 
ate,  and  am  deeply  touched  by,  the  confidence  you  have  put  in  me 
and  the  more  than  generous  and  kindly  spirit  you  have  always 
shown  toward  me.  I  have  grown  not  only  to  respect  you  as  my 
superior  officer,  but  to  value  your  friendship  very  highly  ;  and  I 
trust  I  have  profited  by  association  with  one  of  the  most  high- 
minded  and  upright  public  servants  it  has  been  my  good  fortune 
to  meet." 

REPLY  OF  SECRETARY  LONG. 

Secretary  Long  replied,  under  date  of  May  yth,  as  follows : 

"  My  Dear  Mr.  Roosevelt :  I  have  your  letter  of  resignation 
to  the  President,  but,  as  I  have  told  you  so  many  times,  I  have  it 
with  the  utmost  regret.  I  have  often  expressed,  perhaps  too 
emphatically  and  harshly,  my  conviction  that  you  ought  not  to 
leave  the  post  of  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  where  your 
services  have  not  only  been  of  such  great  value,  but  of  so  much 
inspiration  to  me  and  to  the  whole  service.  But  now  that  you 
have  determined  to  go  to  the  front,  I  feel  bound  to  say  that,  while 
I  do  not  approve  of  the  change,  I  do  most  heartily  appreciate  the 
patriotism  and  the  sincere  fidelity  which  actuate  you. 

"  Let  me  assure  you  how  profoundly  I  feel  the  loss  I  sustain 
in  your  going.  Your  energy,  industry,  and  great  knowledge  of 
naval  interests,  and  especially  your  inspiring  influence  in  stimu 
lating  and  lifting  the  whole  tone  of  the  personnel  of  the  navy, 
have  been  invaluable.  I  cannot  close  this  reply  to  your  letter 


92  A  MASTERLY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

without  telling  you  also  what  an  affectionate  personal  regard  I 
have  come  to  feel  for  you  as  a  man  of  the  truest  temper  and  most 
loyal  friendship.  I  rejoice  that  one  who  has  so  much  capacity 
for  public  service  and  for  winning  personal  friendships  has  the 
promise  of  so  many  years  of  useful  and  loving  life  before  him." 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  letter  to  the  President  was  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  tender  my  resignation  through 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  at  his  request  make  it  take  effect 
when  you  desire.  It  is  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  I  sever  my 
connection  with  your  administration,  and  I  only  do  it  because  I  hope 
thereby  to  have  the  chance  to  take  an  even  more  active  part  in 
carrying  out  one  of  the  great  works  of  your  administration — the 
freeing  of  Cuba  and  the  driving  of  Spain  from  the  western  hemi 
sphere.  I  shall  always  deeply  appreciate  your  kindness  to  me, 
and  shall  always  try  to  show  myself  worthy  of  the  trust  you  have 
reposed  in  me." 

The  President's  answer,  through  Secretary  Porter,  was  as 
follows  : 

"  My  Dear  Mr.  Secretary  :  Although  the  President  was 
obliged  to  accept  your  resignation  of  recent  date,  I  can  assure 
you  that  he  has  done  so  with  very  great  regret.  Only  the  cir 
cumstances  mentioned  in  your  letter  and  your  decided  and 
changeable  preference  for  your  new  patriotic  work  has  induced 
the  President  to  consent  to  your  severing  your  present  connection 
with  the  administration.  Your  services  here  during  your  entire 
term  of  office  have  been  faithful,  able  and  successful  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  no  one  appreciates  this  fact  more  keenly  than 
the  President  himself.  Without  doubt  your  connection  with  the 
navy  will  be  beneficially  felt  in  several  of  its  departments  for 
many  years  to  come. 

"  In  the  President's  behalf,  therefore,  I  wish  at  this  time  to 
thank  you  most  heartily  and  to  wish  you  all  success  in  your  new 
and  important  undertaking,  for  which  I  hope  and  predict  a  bril 
liantly  victorious  result. 

"JOHN  ADDISON  PORTER," 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

REGIMENT  RECRUITED  AT  SAN  ANTONIO — MEN  FROM  THE  TERRITO 
RIES   AND   FROM    THE     EAST — GREAT  DIVERSITY  OF  CHARACTER 

AND  SOCIAL  POSITION  —  COWBOYS  AND  INDIANS  —  COLLEGE 
GRADUATES—  FAMOUS  ATHLETES — RIGID  DISCIPLINE — HURRY 
ING  PREPARATIONS — JOURNEY  TO  TAMPA — VEXATIOUS  DELAYS — 
LACK  OF  MANAGEMENT — ON  BOARD  THE  "  YUCATAN" — VOYAGE 
TO  SANTIAGO— LANDING  THE  TROOPS  ON  CUBAN  SOIL. 

WHEN  Mr.  Roosevelt  resolved  to  have  a  hand  in  the  impend 
ing  war,  he  did  not  seek  a  position  in  the  navy.  As  well 
posted  as  he  was  on  all  naval  matters,  he  was  not  a  seaman.  He 
was  a  landsman  and  not  a  sailor.  He  could  steer  a  bucking 
mustang,  but  not  a  ship.  He  was  to  do  his  fighting  on  land,  and, 
naturally,  his  mind  turned  toward  the  hardy  ranchmen  and  dash 
ing  cowboys  he  had  known  in  the  West.  He  believed  that  if  he 
could  organize  a  regiment  of  these  brave  fellows  he  could  render 
a  service  that  would  help  to  crown  our  arms  with  glory. 

He  applied  for  a  commission  in  the  army  of  volunteers  that 
hurried  forward  to  meet  the  call  of  President  McKinley.  To  the 
remonstrances  of  friends  and  Washington  officials,  who  declared 
he  was  more  needed  in  the  Navy  Department  than  anywhere  else, 
he  turned  a  deaf  ear.  He  had  rendered  invaluable  service  in 
placing  the  navy  in  the  best  possible  condition  for  the  approaching 
struggle,  and  was  resolved  now  to  follow  our  flag  to  the  battle 
field. 

Preliminaries  were  soon  arranged.  He  passed  a  good  physi 
cal  examination,  and  was  sworn  into  service  by  General  Corbin. 
As  soon  as  it  was  announced  that  he  was  to  organize  a  regiment 
and  go  with  it  to  the  front  his  office  presented  a  strange  scene. 
All  sorts  of  men  from  all  sorts  of  places  came  to  make  applica 
tion  for  a  chance  to  serve  in  the  ranks.  They  clamored,  they  used 

all  the  arts  of  persuasion,  they  set  up  against  one  another  a  fierce 

93 


94  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

rivalry,  so  eager  were  these  loyal  sons  of  the  nation  to  honor  the 
flag  and  prove  their  patriotism. 

Some  of  them  were  rough-looking  cowboys  who  had  hurried 
to  Washington  to  make  sure  of  being  accepted.  They  had  the 
air,  the  dress,  the  bold  demeanor  of  men  who  had  shot  big  game, 
chased  wild  steers,  tried  conclusions  with  Indians,  and  their  tall 
athletic  figures,  broad  brims  and  bronzed  faces  made  them  very 
conspicuous,  and  indicated  that,  with  their  experiences  of  western 
life  and  hardships,  they  would  make  formidable  fighters. 

VOLUNTEERS  FROM  HIGHEST  SOCIAL  RANKS. 

In  marked  contrast  with  these,  others  were  the  sons  of  well- 
known  families,  who  had  been  reared  in  wealth  and  luxury.  They 
came  from  homes  of  refinement,  and  not  a  few  were  educated 
young  men  and  graduates  of  colleges.  As  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a 
graduate  of  Harvard,  many  from  that  institution  wished  to  follow 
him  and  try  the  fortunes  of  war.  Indeed,  he  could  not  help  query 
ing  whether  these  noble  sons  of  distinguished  sires  had  stopped  to 
count  the  cost  of  a  soldier's  life  in  active  service,  or  realized  its 
hardships  and  dangers. 

Among  others,  were  three  or  four  policemen  from  New  York, 
who  had  known  Roosevelt  when  he  was  their  chief,  and  could  not 
now  resist  the  fascination  of  a  life  of  heroism  under  such  a  leader. 
It  was  evident  that  he  could  have  raised  an  army  of  50,000  men  on 
short  notice  if  he  could  have  been  apppointed  commander. 

From  the  outset  Mr.  Roosevelt  objected  to  the  designation  of 
"  Rough  Riders "  being  given  in  advance  to  the  regiment  of 
mounted  rifles.  "The  objection  to  that  term,"  he  said,  "is  that 
people  who  read  the  newspapers  may  get  the  impression  that  the 
regiment  is  to  be  a  hippodrome  affair.  Those  who  get  that  idea 
will  discover  that  it  is  a  mistake.  The  regiment  may  be  one  of 
rough  riders,  but  they  will  be  as  orderly,  obedient,  and  generally 
well-disciplined  a  body  as  any  equal  number  of  men  in  any  branch 
of  the  service.  But  they  will  not  make  a  show.  They  go  out  for 
business,  and  when  they  do  business  no  one  will  entertain  for  a 
moment  the  notion  that  they  are  part  of  a  show." 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS.  95 

"Some  persons,"  wrote  Mr.  Byron  P.  Stephenson,  at  this  time, 
"  were  inclined  to  sneer  at  Theodore  Roosevelt  for  deserting  his 
post  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  where  his  services  were 
of  the  greatest  valne  to  the  country.  There  is  something  humor 
ous  in  the  idea  of  a  man  of  forty  and  the  father  of  six  children 
raising  a  troop  of  cowboys,  hunting  men,  and  mounted  policemen, 
and  going  as  its  second  in  command  to  fight  the  Spaniards.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  is  not  lacking  in  a  sense  of  humor,  and  probably  sees 
the  comical  side  of  the  situation  as  well  as  any  one.  But  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt  is  an  anachronism.  He  belongs  not  to  the  dawn 
of  the  twentienth  century,  but  to  the  mediaeval  days.  He  was  cut 
out  for  a  crusader.  He  is  always  ready  to  fight  for  an  idea.  He 
would  have  delighted  Cceur  de  Lion." 

EXPLOITS  OF  MOUNTED  HEROES. 

Our  country's  history  affords  some  parallels  to  the  unique 
character  of  the  Rough  Riders.  "  Old  Hickory  "  at  New  Orleans 
led  an  army  of  brave  fighters ;  Kit  Carson's  rangers  were  famous 
in  their  dry  ;  so  were  Captain  May's  mounted  heroes  in  the 
Mexican  war.  If  the  leader  can  be  found  the  men  can  also 
be  found  who  are  fashioned  for  valorous  exploits.  We  rather 
frown  upon  what  in  common  phrase  is  called  the  dare-devil  spirit, 
but  there  may  be  emergencies  and  crises  when  it  means  victory. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  had  been  schooled  somewhat  in  military  tactics 
before  he  prepared  to  take  the  field.  In  1884  ne  was  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Eighth  Regiment  of  the  National  Guard  of  New  York. 
He  remained  with  the  regiment  more  than  four  years,  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  captain.  President  McKinley  offered  to  make  him 
colonel  of  the  Rough  Riders,  and  doubtless  he  would  have  accepted 
the  commission  if  he  had  considered  himself  sufficiently  versed  in 
military  tactics  to  make  a  competent  commander. 

His  reply  was,  "  I  am  not  fitted  to  command  a  regiment  for  I 
have  no  recent  military  training.  Later,  after  I  have  gained  some 
experience,  perhaps  that  may  come."  Not  only  did  he  reach  the 
position  of  colonel,  but  his  gallantry  and  heroic  services  were 
recognized  by  a  medal  of  honor. 


96  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

Dr.  Leonard  Wood,  of  Massachusetts,  was  appointed  colonel. 
He  was  a  captain  and  assistant  snrgeon  of  regulars,  doing  duty 
at  the  time  in  personal  attendance  on  the  President  and  Secretary 
of  War.  Roosevelt  was  made  lieutenant-colonel.  The  two  men 
had  never  met  until  Colonel  Wood  was  called  to  Washington,  but 
there  was  so  much  in  common  between  them  that  they  soon 
became  fast  friends.  Bach  was  a  sturdy  specimen  of  physical 
manhood ;  each  was  a  man  of  high  resolves  and  noble  ideals ; 
each  was  a  thorough  American,  imbued  with  our  national  spirit ; 
each  was  eager  for  active  service  in  the  war.  These  two  men 
formed  a  host  in  themselves. 

KIND  WORDS  FOR  COLONEL  WOOD. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  published  in  "  Scribner's  Magazine"  the  fol 
lowing  appreciative  notice  of  Colonel  Wood  : 

"  He  had  served  in  General  Miles'  inconceivably  harassing 
campaigns  against  the  Apaches,  where  he  had  displayed  such 
courage  that  he  won  that  most  coveted  of  distinctions — the  medal 
of  honor;  such  extraordinary  physical  strength  and  endurance 
that  he  grew  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  two  or  three  white  men 
who  could  stand  fatigue  and  hardship  as  well  as  an  Apache ;  and 
such  judgment  that  toward  the  close  of  the  campaigns  he  was 
given,  though  a  surgeon,  the  actual  command  of  more  than  one 
expedition  against  the  bands  of  renegade  Indians.  Like  so  many 
of  the  gallant  fighters  with  whom  it  was  later  my  good  fortune  to 
serve,  he  combined,  in  a  very  high  degree,  the  qualities  of  entire 
manliness  with  entire  uprightness  and  cleanliness  of  character. 

"  It  was  a  pleasure  to  deal  with  a  man  of  high  ideals,  who 
scorned  everything  mean  and  base,  and  who  also  possessed  those 
robust  and  hardy  qualities  of  body  and  mind  for  the  lack  of  which 
no  merely  negative  virtue  can  ever  atone.  He  was  by  nature  a 
soldier  of  the  highest  type,  and,  like  most  natural  soldiers,  he  was, 
of  course,  born  with  a  keen  longing  for  adventure  ;  and,  though 
an  excellent  doctor,  what  he  really  desired  was  the  chance  to  lead 
men  in  some  kind  of  hazard." 

Wood  and  Roosevelt  proceeded  to  San  Antonio,  Texas,  where 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS.  9f 

the  regiment  was  to  be  recruited.  It  was  expected  that  most  o} 
the  recruits  would  be  western  plainsmen,  cowboys  and  ranchmen, 
who  were  used  to  the  rifle,  the  bucking  horse,  the  hardships  of 
frontier  life,  many  of  whom  had  known  Mr.  Roosevelt  during  hia 
hunting  excursions  in  the  West  and  his  visits  to  his  ranch.  Men 
were  already  on  the  ground  from  Arizona,  Oklahoma,  New  Mexico^ 
and  others  soon  arrived  from  Indian  Territory. 

QUICK  RESPONSE  FROM  CALL  TO  ARMS. 

The  call  to  arms  had  been  heard  through  all  these  vast 
regions,  and  there  came  a  quick  response  from  j  ust  the  men  who 
were  wanted  for  a  military  organization  that  was  intended  for 
special  service.  At  first  thought  one  might  imagine  that  men  so 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  adventure  would  never  submit  them 
selves  to  the  exacting  discipline  required  by  their  officers.  Bvery 
one  was  a  fighter  on  his  own  hook,  but  they  had  the  intelligence 
and  the  instinct  to  see  that  strict  discipline  was  essential  to  the 
highest  efficiency,  and  that  the  grandest  quality  of  a  soldier  is 
obedience  to  orders.  It  did  not  take  long  to  get  this  rough  mate 
rial  into  shape. 

As  to  arms,  the  best  were  chosen  for  the  purpose.  There  were 
six  shooters,  carbines  and  Cuban  machetes.  The  latter  resem 
bled  the  old-fashioned  bushhook,  known  to  farmers  and  woodsmen 
in  clearing  the  ground  of  bushes  and  cutting  roads  through 
thickets  and  underbrush.  In  a  hand-to-hand  combat  the  machete 
is  a  most  effective  weapon,  more  so  than  the  regular  cavalry  sabre, 
which,  in  this  instance,  it  displaced.  It  was  thought  that  it  would 
be  especially  serviceable  in  the  jungles  and  thickets  so  common 
to  Cuba. 

Speaking  of  the  men  who  composed  the  regiment,  Mr.  Roose 
velt  said,  in  a  speech,  after  arriving  at  his  home  at  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island : 

"  We  had  in  our  regiment  the  man  who  was  born  in  Maine, 
and  the  man  who  was  born  in  Oregon,  the  man  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  one  of  the  great  States  of  the  east  and  the  man 
who  had  lived  where  he  had  never  seen  a  great  city  and  rarely  a 

7— M.L. 


£8  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

town  of  more  than  one  Hundred  people.  We  had  the  man  of  the 
sea  coast  and  we  had  also  the  man  who  had  never  seen  more 
water  than  was  contained  in  the  Pecos  when  the  Pecos  was  '  up ' ; 
and  it  was  one  of  the  latter  class  whom  I  heard  on  one  occasion, 
when  his  hat  had  blown  off  in  midocean,  chronicle  the  event  to 
one  of  his  comrades  by  saying,  (  Oh,  Jim  !  my  hat  blew  into  the 
crick ! '  To  him  the  Atlantic  was  simply  an  unusually  large 
creek." 

Western  men  are  fond  of  nicknames,  and  "  Laughing  Horse'7 
was  the  name  given  Roosevelt.  This  gave  rise  to  the  following 
humorous  verses  by  H.  W.  Phillips,  which  greatly  pleased  the 

cowboys : 

"THE  ROUGH  RIDING  BRIGADE." 

"So,  Teddy,  you've  come  to  your  own  again  ! 

I  thought  it  was  mighty  strange 
That  you  had  forgotten  the  good  old  times 

And  the  friends  of  the  cattle  range. 
But  now  the  old  gun  has  been  polished  up, 

And  I'm  ready  to  cross  the  sea 
And  ride  with  you,  Teddy  Roosevelt ! 

Old  '  Laughing  Horse '  for  me  ! 

"  Together  we've  ridden  the  range,  my  lad, 

And  slept  on  the  ground  o'  night ; 
And  you  were  the  boy  for  a  high  old  time, 

A  cuss  in  a  stand-up  fight. 
Besides,  you  were  square  as  a  die,  old  pard, 

And  all  that  a  man  should  .be. 
So  I'm  with  you,  Teddy  Roosevelt, 

Old  '  Laughing  Horse  '  for  me  ! 

"  The  boys  have  just  whooped  to  your  call,  my  lad, 

From  the  hot  desert  Texan  trail 
To  where  the  wild  yell  of  the  blizzard's  sweep 

Makes  mock  of  the  coyote's  wail. 
Now,  I  don't  know  what  the  row's  all  about, 

But  my  trail  lies  before  me  plain  ; 
For,  Teddy,  you've  said  that  the  thing  to  do 

Is  to  wallop  the  hide  off  Spain." 


ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS.  99 

The  whole  country  was  deeply  interested  in  Roosevelt's  new 
regiment,  and,  indeed,  was  not  a  little  amused.  All  accounts  con 
cerning  it  were  eagerly  read,  and  the  universal  opinion  was  that 
under  his  leadership  the  Rough  Riders  would  be  the  heroes  of  the 
war.  It  seemed  an  odd  spectacle  for  the  sons  of  old  aristocratic 
families  of  the  Bast  to  be  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  dare-devil 
horsemen  and  cattle  herders  of  the  plains.  But  a  common  cause 
annihilates  all  outward  distinctions  and  welds  men  together  like 
bands  of  steel.  All  sorts  of  characters  and  from  all  ranks  of  life 
helped  to  make  up  this  unique  regiment,  and  the  very  pride  the 
men  felt  in  their  organization,  and  the  determination  that  it 
should  render  a  good  account  of  itself  was  all  that  was  needed  to 
ensure  order,  faithful  drilling  and  punctilious  attention  to  every 

duty. 

LEADERS  TRIED  AND  TRUE. 

"There  was  Bucky  O'Neill,  of  Arizona,  Captain  of  Troop  A, 
the  Mayor  of  Prescott,  a  famous  sheriff  throughout  the  West,  for 
his  feats  of  victorious  warfare  against  the  Apache,  no  less  than 
against  the  white  road  agents  and  men-killers.  His  father  had 
fought  in  Meagher's  Brigade  in  the  Civil  War,  and  he  himself  a 
born  soldier,  a  leader  of  men.  He  was  a  wild,  reckless  fellow, 
soft-spoken,  and  of  dauntless  courage  and  boundless  ambition  ;  he 
was  staunchly  loyal  to  his  friends,  and  cared  for  his  own  men  in 
every  way. 

"  There  was  Captain  Llewellen,  of  New  Mexico,  a  good  citi 
zen,  a  political  leader,  and  one  of  the  most  noted  peace  officers  of 
the  country  ;  he  had  been  shot  four  times  in  pitched  fights  with 
red  marauders  and  white  outlaws.  There  was  Lieutenant  Ballard, 
who  had  broken  oip  the  Black  Jack  gang,  of  ill-omened  notoriety, 
and  his  captain,  Curry,  another  New  Mexican  sheriff  of  fame. 
The  officers  from  the  Indian  Territory  had  almost  all  served  as 
marshals  and  deputy  marshals ;  and  in  the  Indian  Territory 
service  as  a  deputy  marshal  meant  capacity  to  fight  stand-up 
battles  with  gangs  of  outlaws. 

"Three  of  our  highest  officers  had  been  in  the  regular  army. 
One  was  Major  Alexander  Brodie,  from  Arizona,  afterward 


100  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

lieutenant-colonel,  who  had  lived  for  twenty  years  in  the  Territory, 
and  had  become  a  thorough  westerner  without  sinking  the  West 
Pointer — a  soldier  by  taste  as  well  as  training,  whose  men  wor 
shipped  him  and  would  follow  him  every  where,  as  they  would  Bucky 
O'Neill  or  any  other  of  their  favorites.  Brodie  was  running  a 
big  mining  business,  but  when  the  "Maine"  was  blown  up  he 
abandoned  everything  and  telegraphed  right  and  left  to  bid  his 
friends  get  ready  for  the  fight  he  saw  impending. 

BEST  SOLDIER  OF  THE  REGIMENT. 

"  There  was  Micah  Jenkins,  the  captain  of  Troop  K,  a  gentle 
and  courteous  South  Carolinian,  on  whom  danger  acted  like  wine. 
In  action  he  was  a  perfect  gamecock,  and  he  won  his  majority  for 
gallantry  in  battle.  Finally,  there  was  Allyn  Capron,  who  was, 
on  the  whole,  the  best  soldier  in  the  regiment.  In  fact,  I  think 
he  was  the  ideal  of  what  an  American  army  officer  should 
be.  He  was  the  fifth  in  descent  from  father  to  son  who  had 
served  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  body  and 
mind  alike  he  was  fitted  to  play  his  part  to  perfection.  Tall  and 
lithe,  a  remarkable  boxer  and  walker,  a  first-class  rider  and  shot, 
with  yellow  hair  and  piercing  blue  eyes,  he  looked  what  he  was — 
the  archetype  of  the  fighting  man.  He  had  under  him  one  of  the 
two  companies  from  the  Indian  Territory,  and  he  so  soon  impressed 
himself  upon  the  wild  spirit  of  his  followers  that  he  got  them 
ahead  in  discipline  faster  than  any  other  troop  in  the  regiment, 
while  at  the  same  time  taking  care  of  their  bodily  wants. 

"  His  ceaseless  effort  was  so  to  train  them,  care  for  them,  and 
so  inspire  them  as  to  bring  their  fighting  efficiency  to  the  highest 
possible  pitch.  He  required  instant  obedience,  and  tolerated  not 
the  slightest  evasion  of  duty  ;  but  his  mastery  of  his  art  was  so 
thorough  and  his  performance  of  his  own  duty  so  rigid  that  he 
won  at  once  not  merely  their  admiration,  but  that  soldierly  affec 
tion  so  readily  given  by  the  man  in  the  ranks  to  the  superior  who 
cares  for  his  men  and  leads  them  fearlessly  in  battle." 

Of  course,  in  this  strange  gathering  of  men  who  had  been 
used  to  a  free  life  in  the  plains  there  were  some  adventurers. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS.  101 

There  were  gamblers  who  would  stake  the  last  cent  and  even 
their  top  boots  on  the  chances  of  a  game.  There  were  lawless 
youths  who  were  emulating  the  exploits  of  dime  novel  heroes. 
There  were  outlaws,  already  notorious  for  misdeeds,  and  the  law 
officers  who  had  chased  them.  Several  were  Baptist  and  Metho 
dist  clergymen  with  reputations  either  good  or  doubtful,  but  who 
were  fine  fighters.  The  men,  however,  whose  reputations  were 
somewhat  dubious  were  the  exceptions.  The  majority  were  the 
bold,  brave,  honest  and  hardy  frontiersmen,  whose  special  mission 
is  to  blaze  the  way  for  advancing  civilization. 

A  BRAVE  PAWNEE  INDIAN. 

Indians  were  among  the  recruits — Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chero- 
kees,  Chickasaws  and  others.  A  Pawnee  Indian,  known  as  Pol 
lock,  was  one  of  the  bravest  fighters  and  most  reliable  men  in  the 
regiment.  Having  been  well  educated  in  an  eastern  school,  and 
being  a  natural  penman,  he  was  made  regimental  clerk  when  the 
Rough  Riders  reached  Santiago.  It  was  a  remarkable  spectacle — 
remnants  of  the  old  Indian  tribes  fighting  for  the  nation  that  for 
generations  has  been  driving  them  toward  the  setting  sun. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  felt  quite  as  much  pride  in  his  western 
recruits  as  he  did  in  the  club  men,  society  devotees  and  college 
graduates  of  the  east.  Yet  these  men  from  old  families,  who  had 
never  leveled  a  rifle  in  pursuit  of  game  or  rounded  up  a  herd  of 
cattle  or  tramped  over  praries  or  braved  the  dangers  of  the  wild 
frontiers,  were  not  a  bit  less  courageous  or  daring  in  the  hour  of 
battle  than  the  headlong  riders  that  came  pouring  into  San 
Antonio. 

Among  others  whose  families  were  well  known,  one  of  the 
gallant  fighters  was  Hamilton  Fish,  Jr.,  who  lost  his  life  at  San 
tiago.  The  list  of  eastern  recruits  numbered  such  men  as 
William  Tiffany,  Woodbury  Kane,  Townsend  Burden,  Jr.,  and 
Craig  Wads  worth,  who  was  a  leader  in  the  Genesee  Valley  Hunt 
Club  and  the  son  of  a  wealthy  and  distinguished  family.  Tif 
fany  was  grandnephew  of  Commodore  Perry,  the  hero  of  the 
battle  of  Lake  Brie,  whose  bravery,  resulting  in  that  notable 


102  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

victory,  is  one  of  the  grandest  achievements  written  in  our 
country's  history. 

There  were  also  men  who  had  been  famous  college  athletes, 
whose  endurance  and  pluck  had  been  tested  on  the  football  field 
at  Princeton  and  in  the  Varsity  crew  at  Harvard.  College  oars 
men,  football  players,  runners  and  noted  scholars  were  among  the 
hardy  cavalrymen  who  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity  to  prove 
their  prowess  and  patriotism  under  the  leadership  of  Roosevelt. 

"  Of  course  such  a  regiment,  in  spite  of — or,  I  might  almost 
say,  because  of — the  characteristics  which  made  the  individual 
men  exceptionally  formidable  as  soldiers,  could  very  easily  have 
been  spoiled.  Any  weakness  in  the  command  would  have  ruined 
it.  On  the  other  hand,  to  treat  it  from  the  standpoint  of  the  mar 
tinet  and  military  pedant  would  have  been  almost  equally  fatal. 
From  the  beginning  we  started  out  to  secure  the  essentials  of 
discipline,  while  laying  just  as  little  stress  as  possible  on  the 
non-essentials.  The  men  were  singularly  quick  to  respond  to 
any  appeal  to  their  intelligence  and  patriotism.  The  faults  they 
committed  were  those  due  to  ignorance  only. 

OFF-HAND  WAYS  IN  CAMP. 

"When  Holderman,  in  announcing  dinner  to  the  colonel  and 
the  three  majors,  genially  remarked,  *  If  you  fellows  don't  come 
soon  every  thing'll  get  cold,'  he  had  no  thought  of  other  than  a 
kindly  regard  for  their  welfare,  and  was  glad  to  modify  his  form 
of  address  on  being  told  that  it  was  not  what  could  be  described 
as  conventionally  military.  When  one  of  our  sentinels  who  had 
with  much  labor  learned  the  manual  of  arms  saluted  with  great 
pride  as  I  passed,  and  added,  with  a  friendly  nod,  '  good  evening, 
colonel,'  this  variation  in  the  accepted  formula  on  such  occasions 
was  meant  and  was  accepted  as  mere  friendly  interest.  In  both 
cases  the  needed  instruction  was  given  and  received  in  the  same 
kindly  spirit. 

"  One  of  the  new  Indian  Territory  recruits,  after  twenty-four 
hours'  stay  in  camp,  during  which  he  had  steadily  held  himself 
from  the  general  interests,  called  on  the  colonel  in  his  tent  and 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS.  1Q8 

remarked,  ' Well,  colonel,  I  want  to  snake  hands  and  say  we're 
with  you.  We  didn't  know  how  we  would  like  you  fellows  at 
first,  but  you're  all  right ;  you  know  your  business  and  you  mean 
business,  and  you  can  count  on  us  every  time.' 

"  That  same  night,  which  was  hot,  mosquitoes  were  very 
annoying,  and  shortly  after  midnight  both  the  colonel  and  I 
came  to  the  doors  of  our  respective  tents,  which  adjoined  one 
another.  The  sentinel  in  front  was  also  fighting  mosquitoes.  As 
we  came  out  we  saw  him  pitch  his  gun  about  ten  feet  off  and  sit 
down  to  attack  some  of  the  pests  which  had  swarmed  up  his 
trousers'  leg.  Happening  to  glance  in  our  direction  he  nodded 
pleasantly,  and,  with  unabashed  and  friendly  feeling,  remarked, 
'Ain't  they  bad?'" 

NO  RED  TAPE  FOR  THE  COLONEL. 

It  was  something  to  get  the  men  for  the  new  regiment,  but 
this  was  only  a  part  of  what  was  required.  What  are  men  with 
out  equipments  ?  P  nd  with  the  slow  motions  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  at  Washingt  m,  and  the  ridiculous  solicitude  for  red  tape  in 
that  branch  of  the  government,  what  immediate  prospect  was 
there  for  arming  the  regiment,  furnishing  horses  and  other  sup 
plies  and  getting  away  to  the  front  ?  The  manner  in  which 
Colonel  Roosevelt  ignored  red  tape  was  little  less  than  amusing. 
Instead  of  the  red  tape  helping  the  department  to  go  ahead  and 
accomplish  something,  the  department  was  all  wound  around  and 
tied  up  with  it. 

To  all  intents  and  purposes  Colonel  Roosevelt  organized 
himself  into  a  war  department,  and,  whether  anyone  to  this  day 
knows  how  he  did  it,  he  equipped  the  Rough  Riders  in  an  incred 
ibly  short  space  of  time,  and  saved  at  least  one  month  when  a 
month  meant  vastly  more  than  thirty  days.  The  regiment  was 
soon  placed  in  fighting  trim.  The  cowboys,  dudes  and  aristo 
crats  understood  one  another  perfectly.  The  men  were  all  agreed 
upon  one  thing,  and  that  was  enough — they  had  enlisted  to  fight, 
and  all  they  wanted  was  the  chance. 

The  Ordnance  Bureau  at  Washington  thought  freight  trains 


104  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

were  fast  enough  for  sending  equipments  to  San  Antonio.  The 
supplies  would  get  there  some  time  or  other.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
demanded  express  trains.  Even  these  were  sufficiently  slow  to 
satisfy  the  dilatory  nature  of  men  who  always  excuse  their  delays 
on  the  ground  of  "  getting  a  good  ready."  When  the  rifles, 
revolvers  and  saddles  reached  the  regiment  it  was  immediately 
ordered  to  Tampa,  Florida,  whence  it  was  to  be  transported  to 
Cuba. 

The  journey  to  Tampa  required  four  days.  The  officers  and 
men  numbered  upwards  of  nine  hundred,  and  besides  these  there 
were  forty  expert  mule  packers,  nine  hundred  and  sixty  horses 
and  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  mules.  A  party  of  Cubans  at 
Scranton,  Miss.,  presented  themselves  to  Colonel  Wood  and  offered 
their  services,  too,  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  take  them.  The 
conduct  of  the  troops  suggested  a  pleasure  excursion  rather  than 
a  march  to  the  battlefield,  and  although  the  journey  was  a  weari 
some  one  it  was  borne  with  unfailing  good  nature  and  a  disposition 
to  make  light  of  all  hardships. 

MILLIONAIRES  IN  THE  REGIMENT. 

Troop  K  included  among  its  members  millionaires  and  the 
sons  of  many  wealthy  families.  It  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
John  M.  Jenkins,  who  was  formerly  first  lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  Fifth  Cavalry.  It  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  that 
John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New  York,  equipped  a  battery  and  presented  it 
to  our  government,  enlisting  at  the  same  time  and  receiving  a  com 
mission  as  lieutenant.  Mr.  Astor  had  nothing  of  the  character  of 
an  adventurer  ;  he  was  actuated  by  a  patriotic  desire  to  serve  our 
country  in  her  hour  of  need. 

The  Rough  Riders  left  San  Antonio  May  29, 1898,  and  arrived 
at  Tampa  June  2d,  where  they  pitched  their  tents  and  made  them 
selves  as  comfortable  as  they  could  under  a  broiling  sun.  Already 
they  had  learned  that  the  life  of  a  soldier  is  not  an  easy  one,  but 
there  was  no  murmur  of  complaint.  Only  once  was  there  any 
expression  of  dissatisfaction.  They  had  been  told  that  orders 
would  be  issued  immediately  for  the  regiment  to  be  transported  to 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMOUS  ROUGH  RIDERS. 


105 


Cuba,  but  four  troops,  with  all  the  horses,  would  have  to  remain 
behind.  This  was  a  bitter  disappointment.  In  describing  it 
Colonel  Roosevelt  said  :  "  I  saw  more  than  one  among  the  officers 
and  privates  burst  into  tears  when  he  found  he  could  not  go." 

The  want  of  good  management  was  plainly  evident  at  Tampa. 
An  army  of  15,367  officers  and  men,  under  command  of  General 
Shafter,  were  to  embark  on  transports,  bound  for  Santiago.  After 
searching  half  a  day  to  ascertain  what  transport  had  been  assigned 
to  the  Rough  Riders,  it  was  found  that  they  were  to  go  on  board 
the  "Yucatan,"  yet  two  other  regiments  had  been  assigned  to 
this  ship.  By  quick  work  on  the  part  of  Colonels  Wood  and 
Roosevelt,  the  transport  was  brought  in  from  mid-stream  and  the 
Rough  Riders  turned  themselves  into  pack  horses,  carrying  tents, 
commissary  stores  and  accoutrements  on  their  backs  down  the 
long  quay.  Once  on  board  they  were  packed  in  like  sardines. 

GLAD  TO  ESCAPE  FROM  TAMPA. 

Such  delays  and  inconveniences  were  trifling  matters  to  men 
who  were  not  there  for  pleasure,  and  there  was  no  faultfinding  or 
grumbling.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the  "  Yucatan  "  was 
the  first  transport  that  pushed  away  from  the  pier.  But  the 
order  to  sail  had  not  been  received,  and  the  departure  was  delayed 
for  a  whole  week.  The  order  came  on  the  evening  of  June  I3th, 
and  with  flags  flying,  men  cheering,  bands  playing,  the  ships 
started  for  their  destination.  With  all  the  discomforts  occasioned 
by  overcrowding  on  the  "  Yucatan,"  the  men  were  more  comfort 
able  than  they  had  been  on  the  low  plains  and  hot  sands  at  Tampa. 

The  fleet  presented  a  most  picturesque  spectacle.  The 
transports  were  convoyed  by  all  sorts  of  vessels — battleships, 
cruisers,  torpedo  boats  and  converted  yachts.  The  mounts  of  the 
Rough  Riders  were  left  at  Tampa,  and  they  were  assigned  to 
infantry  duty.  The  voyage  was  devoid  of  exciting  incidents, 
and  at  noon,  on  June  2Oth,  the  transports  arrived  off  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  and  preparations  were  made  at  once  for  landing.  This 
required  two  days-  The  troops  were  put  ashore  at  Daiquiri, 
seventeen  miles  east  of  Santiago. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

ROUGH  RIDERS  IN,  CUBA — BATTLE  OF  LA  GUASIMAS — GALLAN 
TRY  OF  REGULARS  AND  VOLUNTEERS — CAPTAIN  CAPRON  AND 
SERGEANT  FISH— REPORT  OF  GENERAL  WHEELER— PERSONAL 
BRAVERY  OF  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT — PLUNGES  INTO  THE  THICK 
OF  THE  FIGHT — INCIDENT  SHOWING  His  DEVOTION  TO  His 
MEN— ROOSEVELT'S  REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  SAN  JUAN — 
CARE  FOR  THE  WOUNDED — TRIBUTES  IN  VERSE  TO  THE 
ROUGH  RIDERS. 

THE  Rough  Riders,  having  landed  in  Cuba,  were  eager  for  battle. 
Tired,  often  hungry,  oppressed  by  the  extreme  heat,  they  were 
displaying  grand  powers  of  endurance,  and  were  almost  impatient 
to  prove  their  courage  in  the  face  of  the  foe. 

They  had  unbounded  confidence  in  their  leaders.  They  knew 
they  would  not  be  expected  to  go  into  any  danger  without  finding 
their  commanders  there  before  them.  Entirely  unacquainted  with 
the  ground  they  occupied,  unused  to  the  thickets,  tall  grass  and 
dense  undergrowths  of  the  country,  they  did  not  shirk  from  any 
difficulties,  or  try  to  escape  any  obstacles  or  perils  that  beset  their 
forward  march.  All  they  wanted  was  to  find  the  Spaniards. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  made  a  special  request  of  General  Shafter 
that  his  men  should  be  allowed  to  join  the  advance  column,  and 
the  request  was  granted.  These  brave  fighters  had  no  idea  of 
crawling  along  in  the  rear  ;  they  would  have  regarded  any  other 
place  except  in  the  front  ranks  as  a  reflection  upon  their  compe 
tency  and  courage.  There  was  no  delay  in  ordering  an  advance, 
and  on  Wednesday  night,  June  22d,  the  column  had  reached 
Demajayabo.  The  next  day  it  arrived  at  Juragua,  which  was 
hastily  evacuated  by  the  Spaniards  without  risking  an  engagement. 
Pushing  on,  our  troops  gained  a  point  within  eight  miles  of  San 
tiago,  on  Friday  morning,  June  24th. 
106 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  107 

Here  it  was  ascertained  that  the  enemy  was  in  front  and  not 
far  away.  The  sound  of  their  axes,  cutting  down  trees  for  defenses, 
could  be  plainly  heard.  A  company  of  Cuban  scouts,  who  had 
joined  our  forces,  was  sent  ahead  to  find  out  the  exact  situation. 
They  had  not  proceeded  far  before  firing  began,  and  bullets  flew 
thick  around  them.  They  dropped  on  the  ground  and  returned 
the  fire,  protecting  themselves  as  well  as  they  could  in  the  bushes. 
This  was  the  signal  for  an  advance  by  the  Rough  Riders  and 
regulars,  led  by  Colonel  Wood  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roosevelt, 
and  thus  began  the  first  fighting  in  the  attack  upon  Santiago. 

The  raw  troops  were  ready  for  the  battle  and  behaved  like 
veterans.  They  were  the  kind  of  men  who  could  easily  learn  the 
art  of  war.  They  knew  far  less  about  retreating  than  about 
advancing.  The  Spaniards  used  smokeless  powder,  and  could  be 
located  in  the  bushes  only  by  the  flashes  of  their  guns.  The 
exigencies  of  warfare  were  entirely  new.  There  was  no  such 
thing  as  an  open  fight  on  well  chosen  ground  with  one  army 
arranged  in  order  against  the  other.  The  thickets  were  so  dense 
and  the  Spaniards  were  so  fully  concealed  that  it  was  reported  our 
troops  were  drawn  into  ambush. 

RAW  TROOPS  ACTED  LIKE  VETERANS. 

But  this  could  not  have  been  true,  for  the  column  knew  well 
enough  that  the  foe  was  in  front  although  skilfully  concealed. 

Two  of  the  bravest  of  our  men  were  lost  in  this  engagement. 
Sergeant  Hamilton  Fish,  Jr.,  was  the  first  to  fall.  He  was  firing 
over  the  Spanish  defenses  when  a  bullet  struck  him  and  he  sank 
down  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  while  a  number  of  his  comrades  gathered 
around  him.  As  he  faced  danger  and  fought  with  unflinching 
courage,  so  did  all  the  volunteers  who  had  left  their  palatial 
homes  and  offered  their  services  in  Cuba. 

Another  who  fell  mortally  wounded  was  Captain  Capron,  who 
h,as  already  been  mentioned.  He  was  an  officer  of  splendid 
ability,  who  could  be  trusted  in  every  emergency,  and  his  death 
was  a  loss  that  was  keenly  felt.  When  the  fatal  shot  struck  him 
lie  sank  down  upon  the  ground  and  soon  asked  "  how  the  boys 


108  THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

were  fighting."  Being  assured  that  they  were  doing  bravely  he 
raised  himself  and  resting  on  his  arm  said,  "  I'm  going  to  see  this 
thing  ont."  Sergeant  Bell  was  standing  by  his  side.  "  Give  me 
your  gun  a  minute,"  he  said  to  the  sergeant.  Upon  receiving  it 
he  kneeled  down  and  fired  twice.  At  each  shot  a  Spaniard  was 
seen  to  fall.  He  was  courageous  to  the  last.  After  sending 
tender  messages  to  his  wife  and  father  he  breathed  his  last  and 
was  borne  from  the  field.  All  the  Rough  Riders  who  fell  in  battle 
were  buried  on  Cuban  soil. 

Full  details  of  our  military  operations  may  be  gathered  from 
official  reports.  General  Wheeler,  who  was  commander-in-chief 
of  the  cavalry,  reported  as  follows: 

"  IN  CAMP,  JARAGUA,  June  29th. 
"  To  THE  ADJUTANT  GENERAL  OF  THE  FIFTH  ARMY  CORPS  : 

"SiR — I  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  in  obedience  to  the 
instructions  of  the  major  general  commanding,  given  me  in 
person  on  June  23d,  I  proceeded  to  Siboney.  The  enemy  had 
evacuated  the  place  at  daylight  that  morning,  taking  a  course 
toward  Sevilla.  A  body  of  about  one  hundred  Cubans  had  fol 
lowed  and  engaged  the  enemy's  rear  guard.  About  nine  of 
them  were  wounded. 

DETERMINED  TO  MAKE  AN  ATTACK. 

"  I  rode  out  to  the  front  and  found  the  enemy  had  halted  and 
established  themselves  at  a  point  about  three  miles  from  Siboney. 
At  night  the  Cubans  returned  to  the  vicinity  of  the  town.  At 
eight  o'clock  that  evening,  the  23d,  General  Young  reached 
Siboney  with  eight  troops  of  Colonel  Wood's  regiment,  A,  B,  D, 
E,  F,  G,  K  and  L,  five  hundred  strong ;  troops  A,  B,  C  and  K,  of 
the  First  regular  cavalry,  in  all  244  men ;  and  troops  A,  B,  B  and 
I,  of  the  Tenth  cavalry,  in  all  220  men,  making  the  total  force, 
964  men,  which  included  nearly  all  of  my  command  which  had 
marched  from  Baiquiri,  eleven  miles. 

11  With  the  assistance  of  General  Castillo  a  rough  map  of  the 
country  was  prepared  and  the  position  of  the  enemy  was  fully 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  109 

explained,  and  I  determined  to  make  an  attack  at  daylight  on  the 
24th.  Colonel  Wood's  regiment  was  sent  by  General  Young, 
accompanied  by  two  of  his  staff  officers,  Lieutenants  Tyrree  R. 
Rivers  and  W.  R.  Smedburg,  Jr.,  to  approach  the  enemy  on  the 
left  hand,  or  more  westerly  road,  while  General  Young,  myself 
and  about  fifty  troops  of  the  First  and  Tenth  cavalry,  with  three 
Hotchkiss  mountain  guns,  approached  the  enemy  on  the  regular 
Sevilla  road. 

OPENING  OF  THE  FIGHT  WITH  ARTILLERY. 

"  General  Young  and  myself  examined  the  position  of  the 
enemy,  the  lines  were  deployed  and  I  directed  him  to  open  fire 
with  the  Hotchkiss  guns.  The  enemy  replied  and  the  firing  im 
mediately  became  general.  Colonel  Wood  had  deployed  his  right, 
nearly  reaching  to  the  left  of  the  regulars.  For  an  hour  the 
fight  was  very  warm,  the  enemy  being  very  lavish  in  expenditure 
of  ammunition,  most  of  their  firing  being  by  volleys.  Finally  the 
enemy  gave  way  and  retreated  rapidly,  our  side  keeping  well 
closed  up  on  them  ;  but  our  men  being  physically  exhausted  by 
both  their  exertions  and  the  great  heat,  were  incapable  of  main 
taining  the  pursuit. 

"  I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  gallant  and  excellent  con 
duct  of  the  officers  and  men  throughout  my  command.  General 
Young  deserves  special  commendation  for  his  cool,  deliberate  and 
skilful  management.  I  also  specially  noticed  his  acting  adjutant 
general,  Lieutenant  A.  L.  Mills,  who,  under  General  Young's 
direction,  was  at  various  parts  of  the  line,  acting  with  energy  and 
cool  courage. 

"  The  imperative  necessity  of  disembarking  with  promptitude 
had  impelled  me  to  leave  most  of  my  staff  to  hasten  this  im 
portant  matter,  and  unfortunately  I  only  had  with  me  Major  W. 
D.  Beach  and  Mr.  Mestro,  an  acting  volunteer  aid,  both  of  whom 
during  the  engagement  creditably  and  bravely  performed  their 
duties.  I  am  especially  indebted  to  Major  Beach  for  his  cool  and 
good  judgment. 

Colonel  Wood's  regiment  was  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

and  too  far  distant  for  me  to  be  a  personal  witness  of  the  individual 
conduct  of  the  officers  and  men  ;  but  the  magnificent  bravery 
shown  by  the  regiment  under  the  lead  of  Colonel  Wood  testifies 
to  his  courage  and  skill  and  the  energy  and  determination  of  his 
officers,  which  have  been  marked  from  the  moment  he  reported  to 
me  at  Tampa,  Fla.,  and  I  have  abundant  evidence  of  his  brave 
and  good  conduct  on  the  field,  and  I  recommend  him  for  the  con 
sideration  of  the  government.  I  must  rely  upon  his  report  to  do 
justice  to  his  officers  and  men,  but  I  desire  personally  to  add  that 
all  I  have  said  regarding  Colonel  Wood  applies  equally  to  Colonel 
Roosevelt." 

"  There  must  have  been  nearly  fifteen  hundred  Spaniards  in 
front  and  to  the  side  of  us,"  said  Colonel  Roosevelt  just  after  the 
fight.  "They  held  the  ridges  with  rifle  pits  and  machine  guns, 
and  hid  a  body  of  men  in  ambush  in  the  thick  jungle  at  the  sides 
of  the  road  over  which  we  were  advancing.  Our  advance  guard 
struck  the  men  in  ambush  and  drove  them  out.  But  they  lost 
Captain  Capron,  Lieutenant  Thomas  and  about  fifteen  men  killed 
or  wounded. 

ACCURATE  AND  HEAVY  FIRING  BY  THE  SPANIARDS. 

"  The  Spanish  firing  was  accurate,  so  accurate  indeed  that  it 
surprised  me,  and  their  firing  was  fearfully  heavy.  I  want  to  say 
a  word  for  our  own  men,"  continued  Colonel  Roosevelt.  "  Every 
officer  and  man  did  his  duty  up  to  the  handle.  Not  a  man 
flinched." 

From  another  officer  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  fight 
ing,  more  details  were  obtained.  "  When  the  firing  began,"  said 
he,  "  Colonel  Roosevelt  took  the  right  wing  with  Troops  G  and  K, 
under  Captains  Llewelyn  and  Jenkins,  and  moved  to  the  support 
of  Captain  Capron,  who  was  getting  it  hard.  At  the  same  time 
Colonel  Wood  and  Major  Brodie  took  the  left  wing  and  advanced  in 
open  order  on  the  Spanish  right  wing.  Major  Brodie  was  wounded 
before  the  troops  had  advanced  one  hundred  yards.  Colonel 
Wood  then  took  the  right  wing  and  shifted  Colonel  Roosevelt  tu 
the  left. 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  Ill 

"  In  the  meantime  the  fire  of  the  Spaniards  had  increased  in 
volume,  but,  notwithstanding  this,  an  order  for  a  general  charge 
was  given,  and  with  a  yell  the  men  sprang  forward.  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  in  front  of  his  men,  snatched  a  rifle  and  ammunition 
belt  from  a  wounded  soldier,  and,  cheering  and  yelling  with  his 
men,  led  the  advance.  In  a  moment  the  bullets  were  singing  like 
a  swarm  of  bees  all  around  them,  and  every  instant  some  poor 
fellow  went  down.  On  the  right  wing  Captain  McClintock  had 
his  leg  broken  by  a  bullet  from  a  machine  gun,  while  four  of  his 
men  went  down.  At  the  same  time  Captain  Luna  lost  nine  of  his 
men.  Then  the  reserves  were  ordered  up. 

FURIOUS  CHARGE  BY  BOTH  WINGS. 

"There  was  no  more  hesitation.  Colonel  Wood,  with  the 
right  wing,  charged  straight  at  a  blockhouse  eight  hundred  yards 
away,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt,  on  the  left,  charged  at  the  same  time. 
Up  the  men  went,  yelling  like  fiends  and  never  stopping  to  return 
the  fire  of  the  Spaniards,  but  keeping  on  with  a  grim  determina 
tion  to  capture  the  blockhouse. 

"  That  charge  was  the  end.  When  within  five  hundred  yards 
of  the  coveted  post  the  Spaniards  broke  and  ran,  and  for  the  first 
time  we  had  the  pleasure,  which  the  Spaniards  had  been  experi 
encing  all  through  the  engagement,  of  shooting  with  the  enemy 
in  sight." 

All  the  Rough  Riders  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  the 
gallant  conduct  of  Colonel  Roosevelt  during  the  engagement. 
He  was  always  at  the  front  and  cheered  his  men  to  deserved  vic 
tory.  He  did  not  take  account  of  danger,  but  set  a  bold  example 
of  unflinching  courage  to  all  his  men.  He  made  it  plain  that  in 
his  view  of  the  case  the  Rough  Riders  were  at  the  seat  of  war  to 
fight ;  they  were  not  out  to  have  a  dress  parade  and  show  their 
uniforms.  Colonel  Roosevelt's  conviction  that  war  meant  busi 
ness,  and  not  play,  was  infused  into  every  man  in  his  command. 

An  incident  illustrating  Colonel  Roosevelt's  devotion  to  the 
men  of  his  regiment  was  told  by  Trooper  Burkholder,  of  the 
Rough  Riders,  who  joined  the  regiment  from  Phoenix,  Arizona. 


112  THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

Burkholder  was  all  through  the  active  campaign  with  the 
Riders,  and  returned  with  them  to  Camp  Wikoff.     He  was 
on  furlough  on  account  of  a  slight  attack  of  swamp  fever  when 
the  Rough  Riders  were  mustered  out,  and  thus  missed,  as  he  put  5 
it,  "an  opportunity  to  say  good-bye  to  the  most  gallant  con  •• 
mander  and  the  truest  man  that  a  soldier  was  ever  privileged  t> 
fight  under." 

"  Only  us  few  men  who  were  with  him,"  said  Burkholder, 
uknow  how  considerate  he  was  of  us  at  all  times.  There  was  one 
case  in  particular  that  illustrates  this  better  than  I  can  recall.  It 
happened  after  the  fight  at  La  Quasina.  The  men  were  tired 
with  the  hard  march  and  the  fighting,  and  hunger  was  gnawing 
at  every  stomach.  Besides,  we  had  our  first  men  killed  there, 
and,  taking  it  all  in  all,  we  were  in  an  iigly  humor.  The  usual 
shouting,  cracking  of  jokes,  and  snatches  of  song  were  missing, 
and  everybody  appeared  to  be  in  the  dumps. 

SOLDIERS  ENCOURAGED  BY  BEEF  STEW. 

"  Well,  things  hadn't  improved  a  bit — in  fact,  were  getting 
worse  along  toward  meal  time — when  the  colonel  began  to  move 
about  among  the  men,  speaking  encouragingly  to  each  group.  I 
guess  he  saw  something  was  up,  and  no  doubt  he  made  up  his 
mind  then  and  there  to  improve  at  least  the  humor  of  the  men. 
There's  an  old  saying  that  a  man  can  best  be  reached  through 
his  stomach,  and  I  guess  he  believes  in  that  maxim.  Shortly 
afterward  we  saw  the  colonel,  his  cook,  and  two  of  the  troopers  of 
Company  I  strike  out  along  the  narrow  road  toward  the  town,  and 
we  wondered  what  was  up.  . 

"  It  was  probably  an  hour  or  so  after  this,  and  during  a  little 
resting  spell  in  our  work  of  clearing  and  making  things  a  little 
camp-like,  that  the  savory  and  almost  forgotten  odor  of  beef  stew 
began  to  sweep  through  the  clearing.  Men  who  were  working 
stopped  short  and  began  to  sniff,  and  those  who  had  stopped  work 
for  a  breathing  spell  forgot  to  breath  for  a  second.  Soon  they 
joined  in  the  sniffing,  and  I'll  wager  every  one  of  us  was  sniffing 
as  hard  as  he  knew  how.  Oh,  but  didn't  that  smell  fine  1  We 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  113 

weren't  sure  that  it  was  for  us,  but  we  had  a  smell  of  it  anyway. 
Quickly  drooping  spirits  revived,  and  as  the  fumes  of  the  boiling 
stew  became  stronger  the  humor  of  the  men  improved.  We  all 
jumped  to  our  work  with  a  will,  and  picks,  shovels  and  axes  were 
plied  in  race-horse  fashion,  while  the  men  would  stop  now  and 
then  to  raise  their  heads  and  draw  a  long  breath  and  exclaim  : 
'Wow  !  but  that  smells  good.' 

"  We  were  finally  summoned  to  feed,  and  then  you  can  im- 
againe  our  surprise.  There  was  a  big  boiler,  and  beside  it  a  crowd 
of  messtent  men  dishing  out  real  beef  stew  !  We  could  hardly 
believe  our  eyes,  and  I  had  to  taste  mine  first  to  make  sure  it 
wasn't  a  dream.  You  should  have  seen  the  expressions  on  the 
faces  of  the  men  as  they  gulped  down  that  stew,  and  we  all 
laughed  when  one  New  York  man  yelled  out :  'And  it's  got  real 
onions  in  it,  too  ! ' 

THE  COST  OF  THAT  DINNER  TO  ROOSEVELT. 

"  After  we  had  loaded  up  we  began  to  wonder  where  it  all 
came  from,  and  then  the  two  Troop  I  men  told  hew  the  colonel 
had  purchased  the  potatoes  and  onions  while  his  own  cook  secured 
the  meat  from  Siboney. 

uYou  probably  won't  believe  it,  but  the  bushel  of  potatoes 
cost  Colonel  Roosevelt  almost  $60,  and  he  had  to  pay  thirty  odd 
good  American  dollars  to  get  the  onions ;  but  then  he  knew  what 
his  men  wanted,  and  it  was  always  his  men  first  with  him.  There 
was  a  rush  to  his  tent  when  we  learned  this,  and  if  you  ever  heard 
the  cheering  I'm  sure  you  wouldn't  wonder  why  the  Rough  Riders 
all  love  their  colonel. 

"  I  see,"  said  Burkholder,  "  that  in  his  address  to  the  men  at 
Camp  Wikoff  the  colonel  told  how  he  had  to  hurry  at  the  San 
Juan  Hill  fight  to  save  himself  from  being  run  over  by  the  men. 
That's  just  like  him  to  say  that ;  but  he  probably  forgets  that 
more  than  half  of  the  men  never  ran  so  fast  before  and  never  will 
again,  as  they  had  to  run  to  keep  up  with  him.  If  Colonel 
Roosevelt  lived  in  Arizona  we  would  give  him  any  office  he  wanted 
without  any  election  nonsense." 

8— M.L> 


114  THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

Writing  of  this  battle,  a  newspaper  correspondent  said : 
"Everybody  has  perfect  faith  in  the  American  regular,  and 
knows  what  he  can  and  what  he  will  ever  do.  General  Young 
did,  then,  what  the  nation  knew  he  would  do,  and  his  colored 
troopers  fought  bravely  and  well.  But  the  interest  of  the  fight 
would  centre  in  the  gallant  conduct  of  Roosevelt's  Rough 
Riders — or  Wood's  Weary  Walkers,  as  they  were  dubbed  at 
Tampa  after  their  horses  were  taken  from  under  them.  Never  was 
there  a  more  representative  body  of  men  on  American  soil ;  never 
was  there  a  body  of  such  varied  elements ;  and  yet  it  was  so  easily 
welded  into  an  effective  fighting  machine  that  a  foreigner  would 
not  know  that  they  were  not  as  near  brothers  in  blood,  character, 
occupation,  mutual  faith  and  long  companionship  as  any  volun 
teer  regiment  that  ever  took  the  field. 

BIG  GAME  HUNTER  AND  COWBOY. 

"  The  dominant  element  was  the  big  game  hunter  and  cow 
boy,  Colonel  Roosevelt,  and  every  field  officer  and  captain  had  at 
one  time  or  another  owned  a  ranch.  The  majority  came  from 
Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma  and  Indian  Territory,  though 
every  State  in  the  Union  was  represented.  There  were  graduates 
of  Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  Princeton,  Cornell,  University  of 
Virginia,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Colorado,  of  Iowa  and  other  Western 
and  Southern  colleges.  There  were  members  of  the  Knicker 
bocker  Club  of  New  York,  and  the  Somerset  of  Boston,  and  of 
crack  horse  organizations  of  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  New 
Jersey.  There  were  revenue  officers  from  Georgia  and  Tennessee, 
police  from  New  York  city,  six  or  eight  deputy  marshals  from 
Colorado,  half  a  dozen  Texan  Rangers,  and  one  Pawnee,  several 
Cherokees  and  Chickasaws,  Choctaws  and  Creeks. 

"  There  were  men  of  all  political  faiths,  all  creeds — Catholics, 
Protestants  and  Jews.  There  was  one  strapping  Australian  and 
one  of  the  Queen's  mounted  police,  though  ninety  per  cent,  of  all 
were  native  born  Americans.  Roosevelt's  Rough  Riders  go  as 
Roosevelt's  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name.  Colonel  Roosevelt  has 
made  his  word  of  peace  good  in  war." 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  115 

The  report  of  the  engagement  was  addressed  by  Colonel 
Roosevelt  to  Brigadier-General  Wood,  and  dated  Camp  Hamilton, 
near  Santiago,  Jnly  2oth.  It  was  as  follows : 

u  SIR-— In  obedience  to  your  directions  I  herewith  report  on 
the  operations  of  my  regiment  from  the  ist  to  the  iyth  inst, 
inclusive. 

"As  I  have  already  made  you  two  reports  about  the  first 
day's  operations,  I  shall  pass  over  them  rather  briefly. 

STRATEGY  IN  THE  ENGAGEMENT. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  first  day  my  regiment  was  formed 
at  the  head  of  the  Second  Brigade,  by  the  HI  Paso  sugar  mill. 
When  the  batteries  opened,  the  Spaniards  replied  to  us  with 
shrapnel,  which  killed  and  wounded  several  of  the  men  of  my 
regiment.  We  then  marched  towards  the  right,  and  my  regi 
ment  crossed  the  ford  before  the  balloon  came  down  there  and 
attracted  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  so  at  that  point  we  lost  no  one. 
My  orders  had  been  to  march  forward  until  I  joined  General 
Lawton's  right  wing,  but  after  going  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  I  was  halted  and  told  to  remain  in  reserve  near  the  creek  by 
a  deep  lane. 

"  The  bullets  dropped  thick  among  us  for  the  next  hour 
while  we  lay  there,  and  many  of  my  men  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Among  the  former  was  Captain  O'Neill,  whose  loss  was  a  heavy 
blow  to  the  regiment,  for  he  was  a  singularly  gallant  and  effi 
cient  officer.  Acting  Lieutenant  Haskell  was  also  shot  at  this 
time.  He  showed  the  utmost  courage  and  had  been  of  great  use 
during  the  fighting  and  marching.  It  seems  to  me  some  action 
should  be  taken  about  him. 

"  You  then  sent  me  word  to  move  forward  in  support  of  the 
regular  cavalry,  and  I  advanced  the  regiment  in  column  of  com 
panies,  each  company  deployed  as  skirmishers.  We  moved 
through  several  skirmish  lines  of  the  regiment  ahead  of  us,  as  it 
seemed  to  me  our  only  chance  was  in  rushing  the  entrenchments 
in  front  instead  of  firing  at  them  from  a  distance. 

"  Accordingly    we  charged    the    blockhouse  and  entrench- 


116  THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

ments  on  the  hill  to  our  right  against  a  heavy  fire.  It  was  taken 
in  good  style,  the  men  of  my  regiment  thus  being  the  first  to 
capture  any  fortified  position  and  to  break  through  the  Spanish 
lines.  The  guidons  of  G  and  B  troop  were  first  at  this  point,  but 
some  of  the  men  of  A  and  B  troop,  who  were  with  me  personally, 
got  in  ahead  of  them.  At  the  last  wire  fence  up  this  hill  I  was 
obliged  to  abandon  my  horse,  and  after  that  we  went  on  foot. 

"  After  capturing  this  hill  we  first  of  all  directed  a  heavy  fire 
upon  the  San  Juan  hill  to  our  left,  which  was  at  the  time  being 
assailed  by  the  regular  infantry  and  cavalry,  supported  by  Cap 
tain  Parker's  Catling  guns.  By  the  time  San  Juan  was  taken  a 
large  force  had  assembled  on  the  hill  we  had  previously  captured, 
consisting  not  only  of  my  own  regiment,  but  of  the  Ninth  and 
portions  of  other  cavalry  regiments. 

CHARGE  UNDER  A  HEAVY  FIRE. 

u  We  then  charged  forward  under  a  very  heavy  fire  across 
the  valley  against  the  Spanish  entrenchments  on  the  hill  in  the 
rear  of  San  Juan  hill.  This  we  also  took,  capturing  several  pris 
oners. 

"  We  then  formed  in  whatever  order  we  could  and  moved 
forward,  driving  the  Spanish  before  us  to  the  crest  of  the  hills  in 
front,  which  were  immediately  opposite  the  city  of  Santiago  itself. 
Here  I  received  orders  to  halt  and  hold  the  line  on  the  hill's 
crest.  I  had  at  the  time  fragments  of  the  Sixth  Cavalry  Regi 
ment  and  an  occasional  infantryman  under  me — three  or  four 
hundred  men  all  told.  As  I  was  the  highest  there  I  took  com 
mand  of  all  them,  and  so  continued  till  next  morning. 

"  The  Spaniards  attempted  a  counter  attack  that  afternoon, 
but  were  easily  driven  back,  and  then  until  after  dark  we  re 
mained  under  a  heavy  fire  from  their  rifles  and  great  guns,  lying 
flat  on  our  faces  on  a  gentle  slope  just  behind  the  crest. 

"  Captain  Parker's  Gatling  battery  was  run  up  to  the  right 
of  my  regiment  and  did  excellent  and  gallant  service.  In  order 
to  charge  the  men  had,  of  course,  been  obliged  to  throw  away 
their  packs,  and  we  had  nothing  to  sleep  in  and  nothing  to  eat. 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  H7 

We  were  lucky  enough,  however,  to  find  in  the  last  block  house 
captured  the  Spanish  dinners,  still  cooking,  which  we  ate  with 
relish.  They  consisted  chiefly  of  rice  and  peas,  with  a  big  pot 
containing  a  stew  of  fresh  meat,  probably  for  the  officers. 

"  We  also  distributed  the  captured  Spanish  blankets  as  far  as 
they  would  go  among  our  men,  and  gathered  a  good  deal  of 
Mauser  ammunition  for  use  in  the  Colt  rapid-fire  guns,  which 
were  being  brought  up.  That  night  we  dug  entrenchments 
across  the  front. 

"At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Spaniards  made 
another  attack  upon  us,  which  was  easily  repelled,  and  at  four 
they  opened  the  day  with  a  heavy  rifle  and  shrapnel  fire.  All 
day  long  we  remained  under  this,  replying  whenever  we  got  the 
chance.  In  the  evening,  at  about  eight  o'clock,  the  Spaniards 
fired  three  guns  and  then  opened  a  very  heavy  rifle  fire,  their 
skirmishers  coming  well  forward. 

SPANISH  FIRE  PROMPTLY  SILENCED. 

"  I  got  all  my  men  down  into  the  trenches,  as  did  the  other 
command  near  me,  and  we  opened  a  heavy  return  fire.  The  Spanish 
advance  was  at  once  stopped,  and  after  an  hour  their  fire  died 
away.  This  night  we  completed  most  of  our  trenches  and  began 
to  build  bomb  proofs.  The  protection  afforded  our  men  was  good, 
and  the  next  morning  I  had  but  one  man  wounded  from  the  rifle 
and  shell  fire  until  twelve  o'clock,  when  the  truce  came. 

"I  do  not  mention  the  officers  and  men  who  particularly  dis 
tinguished  themselves,  as  I  have  nothing  to  add  in  this  respect  to 
what  was  contained  in  my  former  letter. 

"There  were  numerous  Red  Cross  flags  flying  in  the  various 
parts  of  the  city,  two  of  them  so  arranged  that  they  directly 
covered  batteries  in  our  front,  and  for  some  time  were  the  cause  of 
our  not  firing  at  them. 

"The  Spanish  guerrillas  were  very  active,  especially  in  our 
rear,  where  they  seemed  by  preference  to  attack  the  wounded  men 
who  were  being  carried  on  litters,  the  doctors  and  medical  attend 
ants  with  Red  Cross  flags  on  their  arms,  and  the  burial  parties. 


118  THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

"I  organized  a  detail  of  sharpshooters  and  sent  them  ont  after 
the  guerrillas,  of  whom  they  killed  thirteen.  Two  of  the  men 
thus  killed  were  shot  several  hours  after  the  truce  had  been  in 
operation,  because,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  they  kept  firing  upon  our 
men  as  they  went  to  draw  water.  They  were  stationed  in  the  trees, 
as  the  guerrillas  were  generally,  and,  owing  to  the  density  of  the 
foliage,  and  to  the  use  of  smokeless  powder  rifles,  it  was  an  exceed 
ingly  difficult  matter  to  locate  them. 

"For  the  next  seven  days,  until  the  loth,  we  lay  in  our  line 
while  the  truce  continued. 

"We  had  continually  to  work  at  additional  bomb  proofs  and 
at  the  trenches,  and  as  we  had  no  proper  supply  of  food  and  utterly 
inadequate  medical  facilities,  the  men  suffered  a  good  deal.  The 
officers  chipped  together,  purchased  beans,  tomatoes  and  sugar  for 
the  men,  so  that  they  might  have  some  relief  from  the  bacon  and 
hardtack.  With  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  we  got  them  coffee. 

TENDER  CARE  OF  THE  SICK  AND  WOUNDED. 

"As  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  they  suffered  so  in  the  hos 
pitals,  when  sent  to  the  rear,  for  lack  of  food  and  attention,  that  we 
found  it  best  to  keep  them  at  the  front  and  give  them  such  care  as 
our  own  doctors  could. 

"As  I  mentioned  in  my  previous  letter,  thirteen  of  our 
wounded  men  continued  to  fight  through  the  battle  in  spite  of 
their  inj  uries.  In  spite  of  their  wounds  those  sent  to  the  rear, 
many  both  sick  and  wounded,  came  up  to  rejoin  us  as  soon  as 
their  condition  allowed  them  to  walk. 

"  On  the  loth  the  truce  was  at  an  end  and  the  bombardment 
reopened,  as  far  as  our  lines  were  concerned;  it  was,  on  the 
Spanish  part,  very  feeble.  We  suffered  no  losses,  and  speedily  got 
the  fire  from  their  trenches  in  our  front  completely  under  control. 

"On  the  nth  we  moved  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  right? 
the  truce  again  being  on. 

"Nothing  happened  there,  except  we  continued  to  watch  and 
do  our  best  to  get  the  men,  especially  the  sick,  properly  fed.  Hav 
ing  no  transportation,  and  being  able  to  get  hardly  any  through 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD.  119 

the  regular  channels,  we  used  anything  we  could  find — captured 
Spanish  cavalry  horses,  abandoned  mules,  some  of  which  had  been 
injured,  but  which  our  men  took  and  cured  ;  diminutive,  skinny 
ponies  purchased  from  the  Cubans,  etc. 

"  By  these  means  and  by  the  exertions  of  the  officers,  we 
were  able  from  time  to  time  to  get  supplies  of  beans,  sugar,  tomatoes 
and  evei.  oatmeal,  while  from  the  Red  Cross  people  we  got  our 
invaluable  load  of  rice,  cornmeal,  etc. 

REDUCED  TO  GREAT  STRAITS. 

"All  of  this  was  of  the  utmost  consequence,  not  only  for  the 
sick,  but  for  those  nominally  well,  as  the  lack  of  proper  food  was 
telling  terribly  on  the  men.  It  was  utterly  impossible  to  get 
them  clothes  and  shoes.  Those  they  had  were,  in  many  cases, 
literally  dropping  to  pieces. 

"On  the  iyth  the  city  surrendered.  On  the  i8th  we  shifted 
camp  to  here,  the  best  camp  we  have  had  ;  but  the  march  hither 
under  the  noonday  sun  told  very  heavily  on  our  men,  weakened  by 
underfeeding  and  overwork,  and  the  next  morning  123  cases  were 
reported  to  the  doctor,  and  I  now  have  but  half  of  the  600  men, 
with  which  I  landed  four  weeks  ago,  fit  for  duty,  and  these  are  not 
fit  to  do  anything  like  the  work  they  could  do  then. 

"As  we  had  but  one  wagon,  the  change  necessitated  leaving 
much  of  my  stuff  behind,  with  a  night  of  discomfort,  with  scanty 
shelter  and  scanty  food  for  the  most  of  the  officers  and  many  of 
the  mer .  Only  the  possession  of  the  improvised  pack  train  alluded 
to  above  saved  us  from  being  worse. 

"  Yesterday  I  sent  in  a  detail  of  six  officers  and  men  to  see  if 
they  could  not  purchase  or  make  arrangements  for  a  supply  of 
proper  food  and  proper  clothing  for  the  men,  even  if  we  had  to  pay 
it  out  of  our  own  pockets.  Our  suffering  has  been  due  primarily  to 
lack  of  transportation  and  of  proper  food  or  sufficient  clothing  and 
of  medical  supplies. 

"We  should  now  have  wagon  sheets  for  tentage. 
"Very  respectfully, 

"THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 


120 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 


An  officer's  report  is  always  intended  to  be  a  statement  of 
facts.  It,  therefore,  lacks  the  glow  and  picturesque  features  that 
the  correspondent  or  the  historian  would  give  to  his  description  of 
a  hard-fought  battle.  The  foregoing  report  tells,  in  plain  language, 
the  heroic  exploits  of  the  Rough  Riders,  and  is  an  unvarnished 
testimony  to  their  valor.  The  simple  narration  of  facts  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  valor  displayed  by  the  brave  cavalrymen  whom 
Colonel  Roosevelt  commanded.  He  makes  no  claim  to  superior 
courage  and  fighting  qualities,  but  it  is  only  just  to  say  he  was  the 
central  figure,  the  grand  leader  who  inspired  his  men  to  noble 
deeds  and  assured  their  victory. 

Many  were  the  tributes  in  verse  paid  to  the  Rough  Riders 
and  their  commander,  some  of  which  lacked  literary  merit,  but 
were  forcible.  We  take  the  liberty  of  appending  a  couple  in  this 
connection : 

THE  BALLAD  OF  "TEDDY'S  TERRORS." 

AS   RELATED    BY   ROUND-UP   RUBE  OF   RATTLESNAKE   GULCH. 


There  wus  a  lovely  regiment  whose 
men  wus  strong  and  stout, 

Fer  some,  they  had  diplomas,  and  fer 
some  wus  warrants  out, 

And  Wood,  he  was  their  colonel  bold, 
an'  Teddy  was  his  mate, 

And  they  called  'em  "  Teddy's  Lamb 
kins,"  fer  their  gentleness  wus  great 

Now  a  good  ole  man  named  Shafter 

says  to  Teddy  and  to  Wood  : — 
"There's  a  joint  called  Santiago  where 

we  ain't  well  understood, — 
So,  take  yer  lamb-like  regiment,  and 

if  you  are  polite, 
I  think  yer  gentle  little  ways'll  set  the 

matter  right.  " 

So  when  Teddy's  boys  got  movin'  and 
the  sun  was  on  the  fry, 


And  the  atmosphere  was  coaxin'  them 
to  lay  right  down  and  die, 

Some  gents  from  Santiago  who  wus 
mad  'cause  they  wus  there, 

Lay  down  behind  some  bushes  to  put 
bullets  through  their  hair. 

Now,  Teddy's  happy  Sunday  School 

wus  movin'  on  its  way 
A-seekin'   in  its  peaceful  style  some 

Dagos  fer  to  slay  ; 
And  the  gents  from   Santiago,  with 

aversion  in  their  heart, 
Wus  hidin'  at  the  cross-roads  fer  to 

blow  'em  all  apart 

There's  a  Spanish  comic  paper  that  has 

give  us  sundry  digs — 
A-callin'  of  us  cowards  an'  dishonest 

Yankee  pigs ; 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 


121 


And  I  guess  these  folks  had  read  it,  and 
had  thought  'twould  be  immense 

Jest  to  paralize  them  lambkins  they 
wus  r tannin'  up  agains'. 

So  when  our  boys  had  pretty  near 

arrived  where  they  wus  at, 
And  the  time  it  was  propitious  fer  to 

start  that  there  combat, 
They  let  'er  fly  a-thinkin'  they  would 

make  a  dreadful  tear, 
An'  then  rubber-necked  to  see  if  any 

Yankees  wus  still  there. 

Now  you  can  well  imagine  wot  a  dread 
ful  start  they  had 

To  see  'em  still  a'  standin*  there  and 
lookin'  bold  and  bad, 

Fer  when  this  gentle  regiment  had 
heard  the  bullets  fly, 

They  had  a  vi-lent  hankerin'  to  make 
them  Spaniards  die. 

So  Teddy,  he  came  runnin'    with  his 

glasses  on  his  nose, 
And  when  the  Spanish  saw  his  teeth 

you  may  believe  they  froze  ; 
And  Wood  was  there   'long  with  'im, 

with  his  cheese-knife  in  his  hand, 
While  at  their  heels  came  yellin'  all 

that  peaceful,  gentle  band. 

They  fought  them  bloody  Spaniards  at 

their  own  familiar  game, 
And  the  gents  from  Santiago  didn't 

like  it  quite  the  same — 
Fer  you  plug  yer  next  door  neighbor 

with  a  rifle  ball  or  two 
An'  he  don't  feel  so  robustous  as  when 

he's  a-pluggin'  you. 


So  when  the  shells  wushoppin',  whil< 

the    breech-blocks     clicked      and 

smoked, 
An'  the  powder  wouldn't  blow  away 

until  a  feller  choked, 
That  regiment  of  Yankee  pigs   wus 

gunnin*  through  the  bush, 
An'  raisin'  merry  hell  with  that  there 

Santiago  push. 

Then  Teddy  seen  'em  runnin',  and  he 

gives  a  monstrous  bawl, 
And  grabbed  a  red-hot  rifle  where  a 

guy  had  let  it  fall, 
And  fixin'  of  his  spectacles  more  firmly 

on  his  face, 
He   started    to    assassinate   them  all 

around  the  place. 

So  through  the  scrubby  underbrush 

from  bay'n't  plant  to  tree, 
Where  the  thorns  would  rip  a  feller's 

pants,  a  shockin'  sight  to  see, 
He  led  his  boys  a-dancin'  on,a-shoutin' 

left  and  right, 
And  not  missin'  many  Spanish  knobs 

that  shoved  'emselves  in  sight. 

And  when  them  Santiago  gents  wus 

finished  to  their  cost, 
Then  Teddy's  boys,  they  took  a  look 

and  found  that  they  wus  lost, 
And  as  their  crewel  enemies  was  freed 

from  earthly  pain, 
They  all  sat  down  to  wait  fer  friends 

to  lead  'em  back  again. 

That's  the  tale  of  Teddy's  terrors,  and 
the  valiant  deed  they  done, 

But  all  tales,  they  should  have  morals, 
so  o'  -course  this  tale  has  one. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR 

WITH  SPAIN. 

IN  THE  FIGHT  AT  SAN  JUAN — COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  WONDERFUL 
CHARGE — PRAISES  THE  GALLANTRY  OF  His  TROOPERS — 
STORY  OF  TROOPER  ROWLAND — CREDIT  DUE  THE  REGULARS 
— ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BATTLES  BEFORE  THE  COMMITTEE  OF 
INVESTIGATION— PRIVATIONS  OF  THE  SOLDIERS— A  BORN 
FIGHTER — STORY  OF  TROOPER  JOHNSON — MORE  CASUALTIES 
AMONG  ROUGH  RIDERS  THAN  REGULARS— GENERAL  WHEELER 
ON  SPANISH  DEFENSES. 

ALL  accounts  of  the  battle  of  La  Guasimas  (so  called  from  a  nut- 
bearing  tree  of  this  name),  and  the  subsequent  fight  of  San 
Juan,  contain  abundant  evidence  that  the  leader  of  the  Rough 
Riders  was  a  host  in  himself  and  did  more  than  any  other 
commander  to  win  the  victory,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  incidents 
attending  the  engagements,  and  from  the  testimony  of  the 
troopers  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  struggle. 

Said  an  officer  of  high  rank  :  "I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of 
Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  is  every  inch  a  fighter,  and  led 
a  charge  of  dismounted  cavalry  against  men  in  pits  at  San  Juan 
successfully.  It  was  a  wonderful  charge,  and  showed  Roosevelt's 
grit.  I  was  not  there,  but  I  have  been  told  of  it  repeatedly  by 
those  who  saw  the  colonel  on  the  Hill." 

Two  reports  made  by  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  his 
superior  officer  in  front  of  Santiago  in  July  were  given  out  by  the 
War  Department  in  Washington,  December  22,  1898.  Both  re 
ports  describe  the  operations  of  the  Rough  Riders  in  the  battle  of 
San  Juan,  the  second  telling  a  much  fuller  story. 

Ill  his  first  report,  dated  July  4th,  he  mentions  by  name  many 
of  the  troopers  who  distinguished  themselves  by  their  bravery. 
This  part  of  the  report,  which  was  made  by  Roosevelt,  as  lieuten- 

122 


ROOSEVELT  S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.      123 

ant-colonel  in  charge  of  the  regiment,  to  Colonel  Wood,  temporar 
ily  in  charge  of  the  brigade,  was  as  follows  : 

"  We  went  into  the  fight  about  four  hundred  and  ninety 
strong.  Bighty-six  were  killed  or  wounded  and  there  are  h?lf  a 
dozen  missing.  The  great  heat  prostrated  nearly  forty  men,  some 
of  them  among  the  best  in  the  regiment.  Besides  Captain  O'Neill 
and  Lieutenant  Haskell,  who  were  killed,  Lieutenants  Leahy, 
Devereaux  and  Case  were  wounded.  All  behaved  wiHi  great 
gallantry.  As  for  Captain  O'Neill,  his  loss  is  one  of  the 
severest  that  could  have  befallen  the  regiment.  He  was  a 
man  of  cool  head,  great  executive  ability  and  literally  daunt 
less  courage. 

"  To  attempt  to  give  a  list  of  the  men  who  showed  signal 
valor  would  necessitate  sending  in  an  almost  complete  roster  of  the 
regiment.  Many  of  the  cases  which  I  mention  stand  merely 
as  examples  of  the  rest,  not  as  exceptions. 

CONDUCT  OF  GALLANT  OFFICERS. 

"  Captain  Jenkins  acted  as  major  and  showed  such  conspicu 
ous  gallantry  and  efficiency  that  I  earnestly  hope  he  may  be 
promoted  to  major  as  soon  as  a  vacancy  occurs.  Captains  Lewel- 
len,  Muller  and  Luna  led  their  troops  throughout  the  charges, 
handling  them  admirably.  At  the  end  of  the  battle  Lieutenants 
Kane,  Greenwood  and  Goodrich  were  in  charge  of  their  troops  im 
mediately  under  my  eye,  and  I  wish  particularly  to  commend 
their  conduct  throughout. 

"  But  the  most  conspicuous  gallantry  was  shown  by  Trooper 
Rowland.  He  was  wounded  in  the  side  in  our  first  fight,  but 
kept  in  the  firing  line.  He  was  sent  to  the  hospital  the  next  day 
but  left  it  and  marched  out  to  us,  overtaking  us,  and  fought  all 
through  this  battle  with  such  indifference  to  danger  that  I  was 
forced  again  and  again  to  restrain  and  threaten  him  for  running 
needless  risks. 

"  Great  gallantry  was  also  shown  by  four  troopers  whom  I 
cannot  identify,  and  by  Trooper  Winslow  Clark,  of  Troop  G.  It 
was  after  we  had  taken  the  first  hill.  I  had  called  out  to  rush  the 


124      ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

second,  and  having  by  that  time  lost  my  horse,  climbed  a  wire 
fence  and  started  toward  it. 

"After  going  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  under  a  heavy  fire, 
I  found  that  no  one  else  had  come.  As  I  discovered  later,  it  was 
simply  because  in  the  confusion,  with  men  shooting  and  being 
shot,  they  had  not  noticed  me  start.  I  told  the  five  men  to  wait  a 
moment,  as  it  might  be  misunderstood  if  we  all  ran  back,  while  I 
ran  back  and  started  the  regiment,  and  as  soon  as  I  did  so  the 
regiment  came  with  a  rush. 

"  But  meanwhile  the  five  men  coolly  lay  down  in  the  open, 
returning  the  fire  from  the  trenches.  It  is  to  be  wondered  at  that 
only  Clark  was  seriously  wounded,  and  he  called  out,  as  we 
passed  again,  to  lay  his  canteen  where  he  could  reach  it,  but  to 
continue  the  charge  and  leave  him  where  he  was.  All  the  wounded 
had  to  be  left  until  after  the  fight,  for  we  could  spare  no  men 
from  the  firing  line.  Very  respectfully, 

"  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 

WOULD  NOT  HAVE  KNOWN  IT  IF  DEFEATED. 

Trooper  Rowland,  who  received  honorable  mention  by  Colo 
nel  Roosevelt  for  his  gallantry,  hailed  from  New  Mexico.  His 
frontier  life  had  made  him  brave  and  fearless.  It  would  seem 
that  this  fight  with  the  Spaniards  was  to  him  little  more  than  a 
pastime.  Without  much  exaggeration  it  may  be  said  that  if  he 
had  been  defeated  he  would  not  have  known  it.  Such  soldierly 
qualities  were  just  the  ones  to  be  admired  by  his  leader,  and  it  is 
not  strange  that  Roosevelt  makes  special  mention  of  him,  as  he 
did  of  many  others.  If  there  was  any  post  more  dangerous  than 
another,  Rowland  was  the  man  who  felt  humiliated  if  it  was  not 
assigned  to  him. 

He  was  sent  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  on  a  dangerous  errand, 
and  on  his  return  the  colonel  noticed  that  he  was  wounded. 

"  Where  are  you  hurt,  Rowland  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Aw — they  caved  in  a  couple  of  ribs  for  me,  I  guess." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  ordered  him  to  go  to  the  rear  and  make 
as  comfortable  as  he  could  in  the  hospital.     Rowland,  for 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.      125 

the  first  time  in  his  service,  grumbled,  and  was  inclined  to  argne 
the  case.  He  did  not  want  to  leave.  But  when  the  order  was 
repeated  he  disappeared,  and  was  not  seen  for  half  an  hour  But 
in  the  course  of  the  advance  Colonel  Roosevelt  saw  him  again, 
and  exclaimed. 

"  I  thought  you  were  told  to  go  to  the  hospital." 
"  Aw — I  couldn't  find  the  hospital,"  replied  the  man,  a  state 
ment  which  his  colonel  doubted.     And  he  remained  on  the  firing- 
line  to  the  end  of  the  conflict.     His  conduct  was  typical  of  the 
heroism  and  fortitude  of  the  whole  American  army." 

The  following  lines,  written  by  one  of  the  troopers,  express 
the  feeling  of  the  Rough  Riders  toward  their  leader : 

SONG  OF  ROOSEVELT'S  RIDERS. 
WE  thud — thud — thud  down  the  dusky  pike, 

We  jingle  across  the  plain, 
We  cut  and  thrust,  and  we  lunge  and  strike, 

We  throttle  the  sons  of  Spain  ! 
Our  chief  has  never  a  tremor  shown, 

He's  grit  cinched  up  in  a  belt, 
Oh,  they  must  be  for  their  courage  known 

Who  ride  with  Roosevelt. 
We  gallop  along  the  gloomy  vale, 

We  bustle  a-down  the  lane, 
We  leap  the  stream  and  the  toppling  rail— 

We  burst  on  the  men  of  Spain  ! 
It's  rattle  and  clash,  the  sabers  flash, 

The  Spaniard  host  doth  melt, 
It's  bluff  and  grit,  and  it's  all  things  vast 

To  ride  with  Roosevelt ! 

Speaking  of  the  battle,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said  :  "  The  men 
were  deployed  on  both  sides  of  the  road  in  such  thick  jungle  that 
only  here  and  there  could  they  see  ahead.  Through  the  jungle 
ran  wire  fences,  and  when  the  troops  got  to  the  ridge  they 
encountered  precipitous  bluffs.  They  were  led  most  gallantly, 
as  American  regular  officers  always  lead  their  men  ;  and  the 
soldiers  followed  their  leaders  with  the  splendid  courage  always 


126      ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPATri. 

shown  by  the  American  regular  soldier.  There  was  not  a  single 
straggler  among  them,  and  so  cool  were  they  and  so  perfect  their 
fine  discipline,  that  in  the  entire  engagement  the  expenditure  of 
ammunition  was  not  over  ten  rounds  per  man. 

"  Major  Bell,  who  commanded  the  squadron,  had  his  leg 
broken  by  a  shot  as  he  was  leading  his  men.  Captain  Wain- 
wright  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  squadron.  Captain 
Knox  was  shot  in  the  abdomen.  He  continued  for  some  time  giv 
ing  orders  to  his  troops,  and  refused  to  allow  a  man  from  the  fir 
ing-line  to  assist  him  to  the  rear.  Lieutenant  Byron  was  himself 
shot,  but  continued  to  lead  his  men  until  the  wound  and  the  heat 
overcame  him,  and  he  fell  in  a  faint.  The  Spaniards  kept  up  a 
very  heavy  firing,  but  as  the  regulars  climbed  the  ridges  the 
Spaniards  broke  and  fled." 

PRAISES  FOR  THE  REGULARS. 

The  value  of  this  statement  consists  in  showing  the  estimate 
Colonel  Roosevelt  placed  upon  the  regulars.  He  was  connected 
with  the  volunteers,  yet  was  ever  ready  to  bestow  just  praise, 
anxious  only  that  it  should  be  conferred  where  it  was  due.  He 
had  no  selfish  desire  to  belittle  the  achievements  of  the  regular 
United  States  troops.  He  knew  these  could  be  depended  upon  in 
every  emergency.  They  were  splendidly  drilled ;  they  were  com 
manded  by  brave  and  competent  officers.  He  had  no  desire  to  rob 
them  of  their  glory. 

To  magnify  the  heroism  of  the  volunteers  and  thus  disparage 
the  valor  of  the  regulars  would  have  shown  a  jealous,  narrow, 
selfish  spirit,  of  which  he  was  quite  incapable.  His  own  troops 
acted  gallantly,  but  they  were  not  the  only  heroes.  If  he  had  led 
a  regiment  of  the  regular  army  he  would  have  been  willing  logive 
the  volunteers  credit  for  every  deed  of  bravery. 

Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  has  been  the  aim  of  Roosevelt 
through  all  his  public  career.  Herein  lies  one  secret  of  his  extra 
ordinary  hold  upon  the  popular  heart.  He  is  not  a  self-seeker ; 
he  is  not  a  trickster.  He  is  a  thoroughly  honest,  generous,  just 
and  frank  man,  and  the  people  know  it.  And  for  the  reason  that 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.       127 

he  is  such  a  man,  broad-minded  and  ready  to  give  even  an  enemy 
his  due,  his  place  in  popular  esteem  is  assured.  His  fame  and 
popularity  can  be  accounted  for  as  much  from  what  he  is  as  from 
what  he  has  done. 

Important  details  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's  part  in  our  war  with 
Spain  were  presented  by  him  before  the  committee  of  investigation 
appointed  to  take  testimony  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the 
military  and  naval  operations  had  been  carried  on.  Colonel  Roose 
velt  was  examined  November  22,  1898.  His  statements  were  frank, 
right  to  the  point,  free  from  all  evasion,  and  given  with  evident 
endeavor  to  be  just  to  all  parties  concerned.  He  was  examined  by 
General  Wilson. 

GO  AHEAD  TOWARD  THE  GUNS. 

Speaking  of  La  Guasimas,  he  said  :  "  It  was  a  brisk  skirmish, 
and,  it  being  my  first  experience,  and  with  smokeless  powder  in 
use,  it  took  me  a  little  time  to  make  out  exactly  what  was  up,  and 
I  couldn't  see  the  Spaniards  for  a  long  time.  They  were  using 
smokeless  powder ;  but,  fortunately,  I  knew  one  rule,  that  '  if  you 
are  in  doubt  go  ahead  and  be  sure  you  go  toward  the  guns  ! '  We 
finally  discovered  the  Spaniards  through  Mr.  Richard  Harding 
Davis,  who  was  with  me  on  the  line.  He  pointed  across  the  ravine 
to  an  elevation,  where  he  thought  were  some  Spaniards,  as  he  could 
see  their  hats  ;  and  I  got  my  glasses  on  them  and  saw  they  were 
Spanish  hats,  and  got  my  men  volley  firing  on  them  and  they  were 
driven  out  and  ran  back  where  there  were  other  Spaniards,  and 
pretty  soon  we  had  them  all  going  back." 

Orders  were  received  on  the  3Oth  of  June  for  the  brigade  to 
move  forward  to  Santiago.  The  next  morning  the  battle  was 
fought  which  had  been  impending  for  several  days.  When  our 
artillery  opened  fire  the  Spaniards  poured  shrapnel  into  our  ranks 
that  killed  or  wounded  a  number  of  A.merican  troops  and  Cubans. 
Roosevelt  was  placed  in  command  of  the  brigade  with  orders  to 
lead  it. 

His  official  report  says  :  "My  regiment  went  first,  the  Second 
Brigade  following  the  First  Brigade  along  the  road  to  join  on  Gen- 


128      ROOSEVELT S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

eral  Lawton's  left.  That  was  the  order  we  received.  General 
L/awton  was  attacking  El  Caney.  We  marched  out  behind  the 
First  Brigade  until  we  came  to  the  San  Juan  River,  which  we 
forded,  and  then  turned  to  the  right.  I  got  my  regiment  across 
just  as  the  captive  balloon  was  coming  along  down  to  the  ford. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  firing  going  on,  and  I  knew  when  that 
balloon  got  down  there  would  be  hot  work  at  the  ford,  so  I  hurried 
my  men  along  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and  my  regiment  marched  at 
the  head  of  the  Second  Brigade  to  the  right  alongside  San  Juan 
River,  with  the  First  Cavalry  Brigade  to  our  left,  between  us  and 
the  block  houses  and  intrenchments  on  the  hills,  and  the  firing 
got  heavier  and  heavier,  and  we  finally  received  word  to  halt  and 
await  orders. 

WELCOME  ORDER  TO  ADVANCE. 

"There  was  a  kind  of  sunken  lane  going  up  from  the  river 
where  we  halted,  and  I  made  the  men  all  lie  down  and  get  under 
cover  as  much  as  they  could,  and  we  lay  there  for,  I  should  j  udge, 
certainly  an  hour.  Finally  we  got  the  welcome  orders  to  advance. 
I  received  instructions  to  move  forward  and  support  the  regular 
cavalry  in  the  assault  on  the  hills  in  front,  and  we  moved  forward, 
and  we  then  took  Kettle  Hill,  as  we  called  it.  I  never  heard  the 
term  San  Juan  Hill  until  two  or  three  days  later.  After  we  went 
up  Kettle  Hill,  Colonel  Hamilton  and  Colonel  Carroll  were  both 
shot,  and  that  left  me  in  command  on  the  hill  until  General 
Sumner  got  there.  I  got  my  men  together  and  got  them  volley 
firing  across  at  the  San  Juan  block  house  on  the  hill  which  the 
infantry  of  Kent  and  Hawkins  were  attacking. 

"  We  kept  up  firing  for  some  time,  and  I  recollect  we  heard 
Parker's  Gatlings  begin  shooting  on  the  left  and  our  men  cheered 
them,  and  we  kept  up  our  fire  until  the  infantry  got  so  near  the 
top  of  the  hill  that  I  was  afraid  of  hitting  them,  and  in  another 
minute  we  saw  the  infantry  swarm  over  the  intrenchments  and  the 
Spaniards  run  out ;  and  then  we  charged  from  Kettle  Hill  across 
at  the  next  line  of  hills,  which  was  in  the  rear,  where  there  were 
Spanish  trenches  and  another  block  house.  General  Sumner  was 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.     129 

on  Kettle  Hill  before  this  ;  lie  had  been  riding  along  the  lines  of 
the  cavalry  seeing  that  they  went  forward.  He  had  command  of 
the  cavalry  division  at  that  time. 

"Then  we  took  the  next  line  of  intrenchments.  The  Spaniards 
were  still  firing  at  us,  and  we  formed  and  went  to  the  left,  and  got 
on  the  crest  of  the  chain  of  hills  overlooking  Santiago.  By  that 
time  I  was  the  highest  officer  in  command  on  the  extreme  front, 
and  I  had  six  regiments  under  me.  Major  Wessels  had  been 
wounded,  and  Captains  Morton  and  Boughton  came  up  and  re 
ported  to  me,  and  Captains  Stevens  and  McNamee  of  the  Ninth 
reported  to  me.  I  received  orders,  then,  from  Captain  Howze,  of 
General  Sumner's  staff,  not  to  advance  but  to  hold  that  hill  at  all 
hazards.  Captain  Howze  was  always  at  the  front  when  he  could 
be.  We  held  the  hill  until  nightfall,  when  we  received  orders  to 
intrench. 

FED  ON  THE  ENEMY'S  FOOD. 

"  We  had  captured  in  the  block  house  the  Spanish  officers' 
mess — and  an  extremely  good  officers'  mess  it  was,  better  than 
anything  we  had  had  ;  a  big  kettle  of  beef,  a  kettle  of  rice,  and 
peas,  and  a  big  demijohn  of  rum,  and  a  lot  of  rice  flour  loaves,  so  I 
fed  those  out  to  my  men ;  and  we  also  got  a  lot  of  Spanish  in 
trenching  tools,  and  we  threw  up  some  very  aboriginal  intrench 
ments.  So  that  night  we  had  a  mild  feast  on  the  Spaniards'  food. 

"  That  is  the  night  of  the  ist.  We  intrenched  there.  As  I 
have  seen  talk  about  a  retreat  being  considered  from  that  hill,  it 
is  only  justice  to  say  that  the  officers  on  the  extreme  front  of  that 
line,  at  least  in  my  part  of  the  line,  never  dreamed  of  the 
Spaniards  driving  us ;  they  were  all  perfectly  horrified  at  the 
idea  of  retreating.  Captains  Morton  and  Boughton  came 
over  to  me  in  the  afternoon  to  say  that  someone  had  spoken 
of  retreating,  and  to  beg  of  me  to  protest.  I  had  not  heard 
of  it,  and  did  not  believe  it  was  true.  I  knew  that  we  could 
hold  that  line  against  anything  that  could  come  up  in  the  front." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  spoke  of  "the  enormous  superiority  of  the 
smokeless  powder  over  the  black  powder,"  adding  that  it  could 
9— M.I,. 


130      ROOSEVELT  S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

hardly  be  realized  by  those  not  on  the  ground.  "  I  saw,  for  instance, 
the  guns  on  our  left  open  fire,  and  in  a  half-minute  after  the  first 
shot  there  would  be  a  thick  black  cloud  hanging,  and  apparently 
every  Spanish  gun  and  every  Spanish  rifle  within  a  radius  of  a 
mile  of  us  would  be  turned  on  that  point,  and  the  gun  would  be 
driven  out ;  so  that  our  men — I  mean  the  dismounted  cavalry — 
would  say,  *  there  go  the  artillery  ;  they  will  be  driven  out.'  And 
they  were.  They  were  placed  back  in  the  rear  on  the  following 
day,  but  they  were  driven  off  the  firing  line  where  the  infantry 
were. 

GETTING  GUNS  IN  POSITION. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  Catlings,  which  were  managed  by  Cap 
tain  Parker,  were  fought  on  the  extreme  front  of  the  skirmish  line ; 
he  fought  his  Catlings  right  up  on  the  extreme  front,  j  ust  as  far  as 
anybody  could  go.  He  did  magnificently.  He  was  on  the  right 
of  our  regiment.  We  had  our  two  Colts,  and  he  came  and  helped 
us  put  our  two  Colts  in  position.  We  didn't  think  we  had  put  our 
works  out  quite  far  enough,  and  we  zigzagged  an  approach  and 
made  a  kind  of  bastion  some  200  yards  out  on  the  hill,  so  that 
we  could  fire  right  into  the  Spanish  works.  He  helped  us  dig  the 
approach  and  helped  us  get  our  Colt  automatic  guns  fixed  just 
right.  He  not  only  fought  his  own  guns,  but  he  rendered  us  every 
assistance. 

"  If  he  had  not  had  smokeless  powder  we  would  not  have 
allowed  him  in  the  trenches  unless  he  could  have  stayed  there  in 
spite  of  us.  I  would  say  that  some  of  the  Seventy-First  New  York 
came  up  in  the  trenches  right  by  some  of  the  cavalry  of  the  First 
Brigade,  and  the  cavalrymen  ordered  them  out,  saying  that  they 
would  not  have  them  in  their  trenches ;  they  would  rather  fight 
without  support  than  with  the  black  powder,  insuring  their  being 
the  one  point  at  which  the  enemy  were  firing." 

Notwithstanding  all  the  privations  to  which  the  troopers  were 
subjected  they  made  no  complaint  ;  all  hardships  were  accepted 
as  belonging  to  the  fortunes  of  war.  In  one  of  his  first  speeches 
to  his  men  Colonel  Roosevelt  said : 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.   131 

"You've  got  to  perform  without  flinching  whatever  duty  is 
assigned  you,  regardless  of  the  difficulty  or  danger  attending  it. 
No  matter  what  comes,  you  must  not  squeal."  These  words  of 
Roosevelt  became  almost  a  creed  with  his  men.  To  do  anything 
without  flinching  or  squealing  was  their  aim,  and  to  hear  the 
colonel  say  "Good!"  was  reward  enough.  One  of  his  troopers 
who  was  disabled  and  brought  home  answered  a  reporter  who 
asked  if  the  colonel  was  a  good  fighter:  "A  fighter?  You'd  give 
a  lifetime  to  see  that  man  leading  a  charge  or  to  hear  him  yell. 
Talk  about  courage  and  grit,  and  all  that — he's  got  it.  Why  I 
used  to  keep  my  eye  on  him  whenever  I  could,  and  I've  seen  him 
dash  into  a  hail  of  bullets,  cheering  and  yelling  all  the  time, 
as  if  possessed.  He  doesn't  know  what  fear  is  and  seems  to  bear 
a  charmed  life.  All  the  Rough  Riders  adore  him." 

WOULD   FOLLOW    HIM   TO   HADES. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  hit  by  a  fragment  of  shell  on  San 
Juan  Hill.  A  trooper  who  was  on  the  ground,  said:  "Teddy 
was  with  four  or  five  other  officers  j  ust  below  the  brow  of  a  hill 
upon  which  one  of  our  batteries  was  placed,  when  a  Spanish  shell, 
well  aimed,  flew  over  the  crest  and  exploded  just  above  the  heads 
of  the  group.  Two  of  the  officers  were  painfully  wounded,  but 
Teddy,  with  his  usual  good  luck,  escaped  with  a  cut  on  the  back 
of  his  right  hand.  It  was  trivial,  but  it  bled.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  delight  on  Teddy's  face  when  he  saw  his  own  blood  leak  out. 
Whipping  out  his  handkerchief  after  a  moment  he  bound  it  around 
his  hand.  A  little  later  when  he  was  near  our  line  he  held  up  his 
bandaged  hand  and  said  gaily,  'See  here,  boys ;  I've  got  it,  too.' 

"I  never  saw  anybody  so  anxious  to  be  in  the  thick  of  the 
trouble  as  Teddy.  The  first  day  the  Rough  Riders  were  held  in 
reserve  he  chafed  terribly.  He  kept  saying,  'I  wish  they'd  let  us 
start.'  We  all  idolized  Teddy.  He  wears  a  flannel  shirt 
most  of  the  time,  and  refuses  to  fare  any  better  than  his  men. 
Why,  he  wouldn't  have  a  shelter-tent  when  they  were  distributed. 
There  isn't  one  of  our  fellows  who  wouldn't  follow  Teddy  to 
Hades  if  he  ordered  us  to." 


132     ROOSEVELT  S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

General  Wheeler  said  of  the  colonel  on  his  return  from  Cuba: 
"  Roosevelt  is  a  born  fighter,  and  his  men  were  absolutely  de 
voted  to  him.  While  we  were  together  on  board  the  transport  I 
had  an  opportunity  of  observing  Roosevelt  more  closely  than  was 
possible  in  the  hustle  and  excitement  of  the  camp.  What  impres 
sed  me  most  about  him  was  his  absolute  integrity." 

Here  is  what  Sergeant  Judson,  Co.  B,  First  Illinois  Volun 
teers,  wrote  under  date  of  Santiago,  July  3Oth :  "The  Rough 
Riders  and  our  regiment  have  for  a  week  camped  together.  They 
are  a  fine  body  of  men,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt  is  a  fine  fellow.  I 
have  talked  to  him  personally  three  times.  He  is  one  of  the  boys. 
In  the  campaign  against  Santiago  he  was  digging  trenches  with 
a  pick,  like  his  men.  He  sleeps  in  a  miserable  tent  and  chews 
hardtack  like  the  rest,  When  we  first  came  our  food  consisted  of 
one  piece  of  hardtack  for  each  meal,  and  some  water. 

"  This  lasted  two  days,  and  along  came  Roosevelt  on  his 
horse.  I  was  on  my  way  to  cut  some  grass  to  sleep  on.  He 
stopped  me  and  said,  *I  know  you  boys  are  starved  for  food,  but  I 
am  going  to  do  what  I  can  for  you.  So  far  I  have  managed  to  get 
some  coffee  and  a  number  of  cases  of  hardtack,  which  will  start 
you.  We  are  going  to  fight  together,  and  I  want  to  see  you  all 
in  good  trim.'  If  it  wasn't  for  him  I  am  sure  we  would  have  been 
without  supplies  much  longer." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  hunger  was  often  added  to  the 
hardships  experienced  by  our  brave  troops  before  Santiago.  It 
would  occasionally  happen  that,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  trans 
porting  supplies,  the  men  could  obtain  only  scanty  rations.  A 
humorous  allusion  to  this,  and  to  the  ravenous  appetite  caused 
thereby,  is  found  in  the  following  doggerel,  entitled 

A  ROUGH  RIDER  AT  HOME. 

My  pa's  a  great  Rough  Rider, 

He  was  one  of  Teddy's  men, 
And  he  fought  before  El  Caney 

In  the  trenches  and  the  fen. 
He  came  home  sore  and  wounded, 


ROOSEVELT S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.      133 

And  I  wish  you'd  see  him  eat; 
He's  got  an  appetite,  I  guess, 

Is  pretty  hard  to  beat. 
It's  eat  and  eat  and  eat 

And  it's  sleep  and  sleep  and  sleep, 
For  ma  won't  let  us  make  no  noise, 

And  so  we  creep  and  creep. 
O,  we  bade  him  welcome  home, 

And  we're  glad  he  wasn't  killed — 
But,  gee !  he's  got  an  appetite 

That  never  will  be  filled. 
He  says  he  caught  the  fever, 

And  he  had  the  ague,  too; 
And  he  kind  o'  got  the  homesicks 

And  the  waitin'  made  him  blue. 
But  when  he  reached  the  station 

And  we  saw  him  from  the  gate 
We  were  the  happiest  family 

You  could  find  in  all  the  State. 

A  great  deal  of  interest  attaches  to  Roosevelt's  famous  charge 
up  San  Juan  hill,  when  his  brigade  performed  deeds  of  valor  that 
would  have  done  credit  to  Napoleon's  Old  Guard.  Here  is  the 
account  of  it  given  in  the  press  despatches  : 

LEADING  HIS  GALLANT  SOLDIERS. 

"  Roosevelt  was  in  the  lead,  waving  his  sword.  Out  into  the 
open  and  up  the  hill,  where  death  seemed  certain,  in  the  face  of 
the  continuous  crackle  of  the  Mausers,  came  the  Rough  Riders 
with  the  Tenth  Cavalry  alongside.  Not  a  man  flinched,  all  con 
tinuing  to  fire  as  they  ran.  Roosevelt  was  a  hundred  feet  ahead 
of  his  troops,  yelling  like  a  Sioux,  while  his  own  men  and  the 
colored  cavalry  cheered  him  as  they  charged  up  the  hill.  There 
was  no  stopping  as  men's  neighbors  fell,  but  on  they  went,  faster 
and  faster.  Suddenly  Roosevelt's  horse  stopped,  pawed  the  air  for 
a  moment,  and  fell  in  a  heap.  Before  the  horse  was  down  Roose 
velt  disengaged  himself  from  the  saddle  and  landing  on  his  feet, 
again  yelled  to  his  men,  and,  sword  in  hand,  charged  on  foot." 


134      ROOSEVELT S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

The  valor  of  that  day  has  been  commemorated  in  the  follow 
ing  spirited  lines: 

BEFORE  SANTIAGO. 

Who  cries  that  the  days  of  daring  are  those  that  are  faded  far, 
That  never  a  light  burns  planet-bright  to  be  hailed  as  the  hero's  star  ? 
Let  the  deeds  of  the  dead  be  laureled,  the  brave  of  the  elder  years, 
But  a  song,  we  say,  for  the  men  of  to-day  who  have  proved  themselves  theii 
peers  ! 

High  in  the  vault  of  the  tropic  sky  is  the  garish  eye  of  the  sun, 
And  down  with  its  crown  of  guns  a-frown  looks  the  hill-top  to  be  won ; 
There  is  the  trench  where  the  Spaniard  lurks,  his  hold  and  his  hiding  place, 
And  he  who  would  cross  the  space  between  must  meet  death  face  to  face. 

The  black  mouths  belch  and  thunder,  and  the  shrapnel  shrills  and  flies ; 
Where  are  the  fain  and  the  fearless,  the  lads  with  the  dauntless  eyes  ? 
Will  the  moment  find  them  wanting  !  Nay,  but?  with  valor  stirred  ! 
Like  the  leashed  hound  on  the  coursing-ground  they  wait  but  the  warning  word. 

"Charge  ! "  and  the  line  moves  forward,  moves  with  a  shout  and  a  swing, 
While  sharper  far  than  the  cactus-thorn  is  the  spiteful  bullet's  sting. 
Now  they  are  out  in  the  open,  and  now  they  are  breasting  the  slope, 
While  into  the  eyes  of  death  they  gaze  as  into  the  eyes  of  hope. 

Never  they  wait  nor  waver,  but  on  they  climb  and  on, 

With  "  Up  with  the  flag  of  the  stripes  and  stars,  and  down  with  the  flag  of  the 

Don  ! " 
What  should  they  bear  through  the  shot-rent  air  but  rout  to  the  ranks  of 

Spain, 
For  the  blood  that  throbs  in  their  hearts  is  the  blood  of  the  boys  of  Anthony 

Wayne  ! 

See,  they  have  taken  the  trenches  !  Where  are  fhe  foemen  ?  Gone  ! 
And  now  "  Old  Glory  "  waves  in  the  breeze  from  the  heights  of  San  Juan  ! 
And  so,  while  the  dead  are  laureled,  the  brave  of  the  elder  years, 
A  song,  we  say,  for  the  men  of  to-day  who  have  proved  themselves    their 
peers !  CLINTON  SCOLLARD. 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.     185 

An  incident  may  be  here  related  which  vividly  shows  the 
esteem,  amounting  almost  to  adoration,  in  which  Colonel  Roose 
velt  was  held  by  regulars  as  well  as  volunteers.  He  received  the 
admiration  always  accorded  a  man  who  is  every  inch  a  soldier. 

Among  the  United  States  regulars  whose  term  of  enlistment 
expired  during  the  Santiago  campaign,  and  who  quit  the  service 
upon  returning  to  this  country,  was  a  man  of  the  Ninth  Infantry, 
known  to  the  members  of  the  regiment  as  Johnson  of  Maryland. 
He  was  a  tall,  lanky  Southerner,  and  the  pride  of  the  Ninth  be 
cause  of  his  marksmanship,  which  was  so  true  that  Johnson  was 
head  and  shoulders  over  all  the  others  in  handling  a  Krag- 
Jorgensen. 

STORY  OF  PRIVATE  JOHNSON. 

He  appeared  to  be  the  most  contented  man  in  Uncle  Sam's 
service,  and  often  spoke  of  re-enlisting  until  an  event  occurred 
just  after  the  first  day's  fighting  at  San  Juan  which  caused  him 
to  change  his  mind,  and  he  vowed  never  to  handle  a  gun  again. 
He  would  never  speak  of  it  to  his  comrades,  but  they  all  knew 
why  he  quit ;  and  although  they  argued  and  tried  to  persuade  him 
to  remain,  Johnson  only  shook  his  head  and  said,  "  No,  boys,  I  can't 
stay  with  you  any  longer.  I'd  like  to,  but  don't  ask  me  again. 
I  can't  do  it.  I  must  get  out." 

One  of  the  members  of  Johnson's  company  tells  the  story  of 
what  caused  the  Ninth  to  lose  its  crack  shot. 

"  We  had  been  engaged  in  the  hottest  kind  of  work  for  some 
hours,  and  after  taking  the  first  line  of  Spanish  trenches  we  were 
fixing  them  up  for  our  own  use.  The  Spaniards  had  been  driven 
back,  but  their  sharpshooters  were  still  at  it,  picking  off  our  men 
here  and  there.  The  Mauser  bullets  were  whizzing  around  us 
pretty  lively,  and  I  noticed  that  Johnson  was  getting  more  and 
more  impatient  every  minute,  and  acting  as  if  he  was  just  aching 
to  get  at  those  Spanish  sharpshooters,  and  finally  he  turned  to 
me,  and,  in  his  drawling  tone,  said ;  'Say,  it's  tough  we  can't  get 
a  chance  at  them.' 

"  He.  soon  got  his  chance,  however,  for  j  ust  as  dusk  began 


136      ROOSEVELT  S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

our  captain  ordered  a  dozen  of  us  to  advance  a  short  distance 
ahead  and  well  beyond  the  trenches  our  forces  had  captured. 
When  we  arrived  on  the  spot  we  were  halted  on  the  edge  of  a 
dense  wood.  Just  ahead  of  us  was  an  open  space  of  clear  ground, 
and  on  the  other  side  of  that  a  low,  thick  brush  which  extended 
as  far  ^as  I  could  see. 

"Just  before  night  came  on  we  received  our  final  orders,  which 
were  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  brush  just  ahead  of  us  on 
the  other  side  of  the  clearing,  and  to  shoot  at  the  first  head  we 
saw.  We  had  settled  down  to  our  tiresome  occupation  of  watching 
and  waiting,  but  always  prepared  for  anything,  and  Johnson  and 
I  were  talking  in  low  tones  of  the  day's  fighting  we  had  just 
passed  through  when  we  heard  the  sound  of  a  dry  twig  breaking. 
We  were  alert  in  an  instant,  and  all  the  men  in  our  line  were 
looking  straight  ahead  with  pieces  half  raised,  ready  for  use.  As 
I  looked  at  Johnson  I  could  see  him  smile,  apparently  with  the 
hope  of  a  chance  to  shoot.  The  sound  repeated  itself,  this  time  a 
little  nearer,  but  still  quite  indistinct. 

MIGHT  HAVE  BEEN  A  FATAL  MISTAKE. 

"An  instant  later  we  again  heard  it,  and  it  sounded  directly 
ahead  of  Johnson  and  me,  and  was,  beyond  a  doubt,  a  cautious 
tread,  but  too  heavy  for  a  man.  While  we  waited  in  almost 
breathless  silence  for  something  to  happen  we  again  heard  the 
cautious  tread,  now  quite  plain.  It  was  the  tread  of  a  horse  and 
was  just  ahead  of  us.  Suddenly,  as  the  head  became  plainer,  a 
dark  object  appeared  just  above  the  top  of  the  brush.  Dozens  of 
guns  were  raised,  but  Johnson  whispered :  'I've  got  him.' 

"  He  crawled  a  few  paces  forward  and  we  saw  him  raise  his 
gun,  his  fingers  nervously  working  on  the  trigger.  At  that  in 
stant  the  brush  parted  and  a  horse  and  lider  stepped  out.  We 
saw  Johnson  stretch  out  his  piece  and  we  expected  to  see  a  flash, 
but  just  then  the  rider  turned  in  his  saddle,  and  by  the  dim  light 
from  the  dull  red  glow  that  still  tinged  the  sky  we  saw  a  pair  of 
eyeglasses  flash.  We  all  knew  at  once  who  it  was,  but  not  one  of 
us  spoke.  We  were  probably  too  horrified,  and  before  I  could  say 


ROOSEVELT  S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.     137 

a  word  Johnson  turned  to  me,  and  with  a  look  on  his  face  I  shall 
never  forget,  exclaimed,  in   a  hoarse  voice  : 

"  '  My  God,  Ben;  it's  Roosevelt!  And  I  nearly  plucked  him  !' 
"With  this  he  threw  his  gun  from  him  and  just  sat  there 
and  stared  at  the  place  in  the  brush  where  Colonel  Roosevelt  and 
his  horse  had  entered.  The  latter,  when  he  heard  the  voices  of 
our  men,  came  straight  up  to  us,  and  appeared  surprised  to  find 
us  so  far  beyond  the  trench.  When  he  heard  of  the  orders  about 
shooting  at  the  first  head  we  saw,  he  smiled  and  said  : 

*  *  That  is  the  first  I've  heard  of  the  orders.  They  were  prob 
ably  issued  while  I  was  away  doing  a  little  reconnoitering  on  my 
own  hook.' " 

HEAVY  LOSSES  OF  THE  ROUGH  RIDERS. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  gallant  conduct  of  the 
regulars  in  the  engagements  before  Santiago,  yet  it  is  but  truth  to 
say  that  the  Rough  Riders  were  in  the  thick  of  every  fight,  and 
the  official  reports  show  that  they  lost  more  officers  than  any  of 
the  regulars,  and  sustained  casualties  greater  in  number  and  more 
severe  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  other  regiment.  They  lost  more 
in  killed,  had  more  disabled  by  wounds  and  had  fewer  missing. 

All  authorities  agree  that  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
the  extreme  heat  and  other  circumstances  our  troops  had  very 
hard  fighting.  This  is  evident  from  what  General  Wheeler  says 
in  his  book  on  "  The  Santiago  Campaign." 

"As  we  rode  for  the  first  time  into  Santiago,"  he  says,  "we 
were  struck  by  the  excellent  manner  in  which  the  Spanish  lines 
were  fortified,  and  more  especially  by  the  formidable  defenses  with 
which  they  had  barricaded  the  roads.  The  one  in  question, 
on  which  we  were  traveling,  was  barricaded  in  no  less  than 
four  places,  said  defenses  consisting  of  an  enormous  mass  of 
barbed  iron  wire,  stretched  across  the  entire  width  of  the  road. 
They  were  not  merely  single  lines  of  wire,  but  pieces  running 
perpendicularly,  diagonally,  horizontally,  and  in  every  other 
direction,  resembling  nothing  so  much  as  a  huge  thick  spider  web 
with  an  enormous  mass  in  the  center. 


138      ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.    - 

11  Behind  this  some  ten  or  fifteen  feet  were  barrels  of  an 
extraordinary  size,  filled  with  sand,  stones  and  concrete,  on  the 
tops  of  which  sand  bags  were  placed  in  such  fashion  as  to  leave 
small  holes  through  which  the  Spaniards  could  sight  their  guns. 
It  would,  indeed,  have  been  a  hard  task  for  American  troops,  were 
they  ever  so  brave  and  courageous,  to  have  taken  by  storm  a  city 
which  was  protected  by  such  defenses  as  these.  Nothing  short  of 
artillery  could  have  swept  such  obstructions  out  of  the  way,  and 
even  then  they  would  have  been  more  or  less  effective  because  of 
the  narrowness  of  the  road  and  the  high  banks  on  each  side, 
which  would  have  prevented  getting  the  obstructions  out  of  the  way. 

"  Kven  the  streets  were  intrenched  in  similar  fashion,  the 
people  taking  refuge  in  the  upper  stories  of  their  houses.  Had  it 
come  to  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  as  at  one  time  was  feared,  the 
American  troops  would  have  suffered  a  fearful  loss,  being  neces 
sarily  placed  at  such  a  disadvantage.  It  was  fortunate,  therefore, 
that  the  surrender  came  when  it  did ;  for  otherwise  many  a  brave 
boy  who  has  returned  to  resume  his  avocations  of  peace,  or  to  do 
his  duty  as  a  soldier  in  his  native  land,  would  have  found  his  last 
resting-place  on  Cuban  soil." 

TWO  DAYS  IN  A  MUDDY  DITCH. 

An  appreciative  biographer  of  Roosevelt  relates  the  following: 
"  A  young  lieutenant  tells  an  incident  of  a  night  in  the  trenches 
which  illustrates  the  power  which  Roosevelt  had  over  his  men  and 
how  he  managed  to  hold  it.  It  was  the  night  of  the  Spanish  sortie 
on  the  captured  trenches.  The  Rough  Riders  had  lain  for  forty- 
eight  hours  in  the  muddy  ditch,  sweltering  by  day,  shivering  by 
night.  At  the  hour  of  early  morning  the  Spaniards  appeared  in  a 
dense,  dark  line  at  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  men  in  the  trenches 
stirred  uneasily.  Tired  and  discouraged,  chilled  to  the  bone,  they 
were  ready  to  bolt  at  a  signal  or  a  movement  from  anyone.  But 
suddenly  they  saw  Colonel  Roosevelt  walking  calmly  along  the 
top  of  the  intrenchment,  with  a  faded  blue  handkerchief  flapping 
from  his  hat. 

"  He  seemed  to  be  oblivious  of  the  rain  of  Mauser  bullets 


ROOSEVELT'S  BRILLIANT  RECORD  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.      139 

which  were  falling  about  him,  and  was  apparently  as  unconscious 
of  danger  as  if  he  were  strolling  in  the  woods  on  a  summer's  day. 
But  the  effect  of  his  coolness  on  the  men  was  remarkable.  A 
cheer  went  up,  and  every  one  was  calling  to  the  colonel  to  come 
down  out  of  danger.  The  restlessness  was  over,  and  the  drooping 
spirits  of  the  men  gave  place  to  grim  determination  to  prove  as 
heroic  as  their  leader.  A  cowboy  lieutenant  said  :  '  That  was  the 
bravest  thing  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.'  ' 

The  lack  of  food  proved  a  trial  to  the  Rough  Riders  after  the 
surrender  of  Santiago.  In  his  official  report  to  the  War  Depart 
ment,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said : 

ONLY  HALF  FIT  FOR  DUTY. 

"On  the  i yth  the  city  surrendered.  On  the  i8th  we  shifted 
camp,  but  the  march  under  the  noonday  sun  told  very  heavily  on 
our  men,  weakened  by  underfeeding  and  overwork,  and  the  next 
morning  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  cases  were  reported  to  the 
doctor,  and  I  now  have  but  half  of  the  six  hundred  men  with  which 
I  landed  four  weeks  ago  fit  for  duty,  and  these  are  not  fit  to  do 
anything  like  the  work  they  could  do  then.  As  we  had  but  one 
wagon,  the  change  necessitated  leaving  much  of  my  stuff  behind, 
with  a  night  of  discomfort,  with  scanty  shelter,  and  scanty  food 
for  most  of  the  officers  and  many  of  the  men.  Only  the  possession 
of  the  impoverished  pack  train  saved  us  from  being  worse. 

"  Yesterday  I  sent  in  a  detail  of  six  officers  and  men  to  see  if 
they  could  not  purchase  or  make  arrangements  for  a  supply  of 
proper  food  and  proper  clothing  for  the  men,  even  if  we  had  to  pay 
for  it  out  of  our  own  pockets.  Our  suffering  had  been  due  prim 
arily  to  lack  of  transportation  and  of  proper  food  or  sufficient 
clothing  and  of  medical  supplies.  We  should  now  have  wagon 
sheets  for  tentage. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 


CHAPTER  IX. 
MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

POPULAR  DEMAND  COMPELS  ROOSEVELT'S  NOMINATION  —  PARTY 
LEADERS  FALL  INTO  LINE  —  SENATOR  DEPEW'S  NOMINATING 
SPEECH  IN  THE  CONVENTION — ROOSEVELT  MAKES  SPEECHES 
THROUGHOUT  THE  STATE — ELECTED  BY  A  HANDSOME  PLUR 
ALITY—HIS  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS — LEGISLATION  ENACTED  BY 
His  RECOMMENDATION — A  POPULAR  HERO. 

MR  ROOSEVELT'S  achievements  in  the  war  were  such  as  to 
greatly  increase  the  respect  felt  for  him,  not  only  in  his 
native  State,  but  in  every  part  of  our  country.  His  name  became 
a  househcld  word;  his  valor  and  courage  in  battle  created  uni 
versal  comment ;  his  considerate  care  and  kindness  shown  towards 
the  brave  men  exposed  to  pestilence  in  Cuba,  and  his  prompt,  en 
ergetic  way  of  doing  whatever  needed  to  be  done,  all  united  to 
render  him  a  sort  of  popular  idol. 

Moreover,  he  had  distinguished  himself  in  every  public  office 
he  had  held.  His  freedom  from  even  the  suspicion  of  corruption, 
his  lofty  aims  and  endeavors,  his  thorough  honesty  and  the  pos 
session  of  those  noble  qualities  which  separate  the  true  statesman 
from  the  mere  politician,  appealed  strongly  to  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  made  them  feel  that  he  was  a  man  who  could  not  be  spared, 
and  should  not  be  allowed  to  retire  to  private  life. 

.Even  before  the  surrender  of  Santiago  in  July  there  were 
unmistakable  evidences  that  Roosevelt  was  his  party's  choice  for 
Governor.  This  sentiment  was  soon  made  plain  by  the  conversa 
tion  of  men  on  the  street,  by  interviews  in  the  press  with  promi 
nent  party  leaders,  and  by  the  loud  acclaim  with  which  his  name 
was  greeted  on  every  public  occasion  where  it  was  mentioned. 
The  sentiment  in  favor  of  his  nomination  gathered  force  day  by 
day.  Buttons  decorated  with  his  portrait  found  a  ready  market, 
with  a  host  of  voters  to  wear  them,  including  especially  young  men. 
140 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  141 

Governor  Frank  S.  Black  had  been  elected  two  years  previously 
by  an  immense  plurality.  If  precedent  and  success  counted  for 
anything  he  should  receive  the  nomination  the  second  time.  The 
masses  of  the  people,  however,  were  becoming  restless.  Much 
was  said  about  "  boss  rule,"  and  the  disposition  to  revolt  against 
the  "machine"  created  alarm  among  the  party  leaders.  Many  of 
the  "  machine  "  supporters  opposed  the  nomination  of  Roosevelt. 
He  was  not  sufficiently  pliable.  He  could  not  be  trusted  to 
do  anything  out  of  the  line  of  what  was  his  strict  duty. 

Was  he  not  independent,  set  in  his  views  and  resolute  in 
maintaining  them  ?  Did  he  not  have  a  mind  of  his  own,  and 
respectfully  decline  to  borrow  the  mind  of  anybody  else  ?  Had  he 
not  shown  a  most  lamentable  disrespect  for  machine  politicians 
when  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  Civil  Service  Commis 
sioner,  and  president  of  the  Police  Board  of  New  York  ?  Such  a 
man  as  that  for  Governor  ?  Why,  the  thing  was  preposterous. 

WANTED  BY  THE  RANK  AND  FILE. 

But  the  personal  characteristics  and  the  public  record  that 
caused  some  of  the  party  leaders  to  oppose  his  nomination,  were 
among  the  chief  reasons  why  the  rank  and  file  of  his  party 
wished  to  elevate  him  to  the  highest  office  in  the  State.  In  the 
nominating  convention  there  was  but  one  other  candidate  besides 
himself.  Governor  Black  was  not  unconscious  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
popularity,  but  he  determined  to  secure  the  nomination  if  possible. 
His  friends  supported  him  faithfully,  yet  all  their  efforts  failed 
to  stay  the  tide  that  had  been  running  for  weeks  in  Roosevelt's 
favor.  Judge  J.  R.  Cady,  of  Hudson,  nominated  Governor  Black, 
but  failed  to  awaken  any  enthusiasm  for  his  candidate. 

The  speech  of  Senator  Depew,  placing  Mr.  Roosevelt  in 
nomination,  was  so  appreciative  and  graceful,  and  withal  so  just 
a  tribute  to  the  man,  that  we  present  it  here  entire  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Not  since  1863  has  the  Republican  party  met 
in  convention  when  the  conditions  of  the  country  were  so  interest 
ing  or  so  critical.  Then  the  emancipation  of  President  Lincoln, 


142  MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

giving  freedom  and  citizenship  to  four  millions  of  slaves,  brought 
about  a  revolution  in  the  internal  policy  of  our  government  which 
seemed  to  multitudes  of  patriotic  men  full  of  the  gravest  dangers 
to  the  republic.  The  effect  of  the  situation  was  the  sudden  and 
violent  sundering  of  the  ties  which  bound  the  past  to  the  present 
and  the  future.  New  problems  were  precipitated  upon  our  states' 
men  to  solve,  which  were  not  to  be  found  in  the  text-books  of  the 
schools,  nor  in  the  manuals  of  traditions  of  Congress.  The  one 
courageous,  constructive  party  which  our  politics  has  known 
for  half  a  century,  solved  those  problems  so  successfully  that  the 
regenerated  and  disenthralled  republic  has  grown  and  pros 
pered  under  this  new  birth  of  liberty  beyond  all  precedent  and 
every  prediction. 

"  Now  as  then,  the  unexpected  has  happened.  The  wildest 
dream  ever  born  of  the  imagination  of  the  most  optimistic  believer 
in  our  destiny  could  not  foresee  when  McKinley  was  elected  two 
years  ago  the  on-rushing  torrent  of  events  of  the  past  three 
months.  We  are  either  to  be  submerged  by  this  break  in  the 
dikes  erected  by  Washington  about  our  government,  or  we  are  to 
find  by  the  wise  utilization  of  the  conditions  forced  upon  us  how 
to  be  safer  and  stronger  within  our  old  boundaries,  and  to  add  in 
calculably  to  American  enterprise  and  opportunity  by  becoming 
masters  of  the  sea,  and  entering  with  the  surplus  of  our  manufac 
tures  the  markets  of  the  world. 

NEW  EVENTS  AND  PROBLEMS. 

"  We  cannot  retreat  or  hide.  We  must  'ride  the  waves  and 
direct  the  storm.'  A  war  has  been  fought  and  won,  and  vast 
possessions  new  and  far  away,  have  been  acquired.  In  the 
short  space  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  days  politicians  and 
parties  have  been  forced  to  meet  new  questions  and  to  take  sides 
upon  startling  issues.  The  face  of  the  world  has  been  changed. 
The  maps  of  yesterday  are  obsolete.  Columbus,  looking  for  the 
Or ent  and  its  fabled  treasures,  sailed  four  hundred  years  ago  into 
th*  landlocked  harbor  of  Santiago,  and  to-day  his  spirit  sees  his 
bones  resting  under  the  flag  of  a  new  and  great  country  which 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  148 

has  found  the  way  and  conquered  the  outposts,  and  is  knocking 
at  the  door  of  the  farthest  Bast. 

"  The  times  require  constructive  statesmen.  As  in  1776  and 
1865,  we  need  architects  and  builders.  A  protective  tariff,  sound 
money — the  gold  standard,  the  retirement  of  the  government  from 
the  banking  business,  and  State  issues  are  just  as  important  as 
ever.  Until  three  months  ago  to  succeed  we  would  have  had  to 
satisfy  the  voters  of  the  soundness  and  wisdom  of  our  position  on 
these  questions.  The  cardinal  principles  of  the  Republican  policy 
will  be  the  platform  of  this  canvass  and  of  future  ones. 

"  But  at  this  juncture  the  people  have  temporarily  put  every 
thing  else  aside  and  are  applying  their  whole  thought  to  the  war 
with  Spain  and  its  consequences.  We  believe  that  they  think 
and  will  vote  that  our  war  with  Spain  was  just  and  righteous. 
We  cannot  yet  say  that  American  constituencies  have  settled 
convictions  on  territorial  expansion  and  the  government  of  distant 
islands  and  alien  races.  We  can  say  that  Republican  opinion 
glories  in  our  victories  and  follows  the  flag. 

ROOSEVELT  FOR  GOVERNOR. 

"  The  resistless  logic  of  events  overcomes  all  other  consider 
ations  and  impels  me  to  present  the  name  of,  as  it  will  persuade  you 
to  nominate  as  our  candidate  for  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt.  If  he  were  only  the  hero  of 
a  brilliant  charge  on  the  battlefield,  and  there  was  nothing  else 
which  fitted  him  for  this  high  place,  I  would  not  put  him  in  nomi 
nation. 

"But  Colonel  Roosevelt  has  shown  conspicuous  ability  in  the 
public  service  for  ten  years.  He  was  a  soldier  three  months.  It 
is  not  time  which  tells  with  an  executive  mind  and  restless  energy 
like  Roosevelt's,  but  opportunity.  Give  him  the  chance  and  he 
leads  to  victory.  He  has  held  two  positions  which  generally  ruin 
the  holder  of  them  with  politicians  and  the  unthinking.  One  was 
Civil  Service  Commissioner  and  the  other  Police  Commissioner 
for  New  York  City.  So  long  as  the  public  did  not  understand 
him  there  was  plenty  of  lurid  language  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 


144  MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

"The  people  are  always  just  in  the  end.  Let  them  know 
everything  that  can  be  said  about  a  man  and  see  all  the  search 
light  of  publicity  will  reveal  and  their  verdict  is  the  truth.  When 
the  smoke  had  cleared  away  from  the  batteries  of  abuse  they  saw 
the  untouched  and  unharmed  figure  of  a  public-spirited,  broad- 
minded,  and  courageous  officer,  who  understood  official  responsi 
bility  to  mean  the  performance  without  fear  or  favor  of  the  work 
he  had  promised  to  do  and  obedience  to  the  laws  he  had  sworn  to 
support.  The  missiles  from  those  batteries  flew  past  him  as  in- 
nocously  as  did  the  bullets  from  the  Spanish  Mausers  on  the  hill 
of  San  Juan. 

"When  he  became  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  he  was  in 
a  sphere  more  congenial  to  his  genius  and  abilities.  He  is  a 
better  soldier  than  he  is  a  policeman.  Life  on  the  plains  had 
broadened  his  vision  and  invigorated  his  youth.  Successful  ex. 
cursions  into  the  literature  of  the  ranch,  and  the  hunting  for  big 
game  had  opened  up  for  him  the  present  resources  and  boundless 
possibilities  of  the  United  States. 

RESOLVES  TO  FORM  A  REGIMENT. 

"  He  was  fortunately  under  the  most  accomplished,  able, 
generous,  and  indulgent  chief  in  Secretary  Long.  A  small  man 
would  have  been  jealous  of  this  dynamitic  bundle  of  brains, 
nerves,  energy,  and  initiative,  but  our  distinguished  Secretary 
gave  full  scope  to  his  brilliant  assistant.  The  country  owes 
much  to  him  for  the  efficiency  and  splendid  condition  of  our  Navy. 

"The  wife  of  a  cabinet  officer  told  me  that  when  Assistant 
Secretary  Roosevelt  announced  that  he  had  determined  to  resign 
and  raise  a  regiment  for  the  war,  some  of  the  ladies  in  the  admin 
istration  circle  thought  it  their  duty  to  remonstrate  with  him. 
They  said :  'Mr.  Roosevelt,  you  have  six  children,  the  youngest 
a  few  months  old.  While  the  country  is  full  of  young  men  who 
have  no  such  responsibilities  and" are  eager  to  enlist,  you  have  no 
right  to  leave  the  burden  upon  your  wife  of  the  care,  support,  and 
bringing  up  of  that  family.'  Roosevelt's  answer  was  a  Roosevelt 
answer :  'I  have  done  as  much  as  any  one  to  bring  on  this  war, 


ZEBRA  ATTACKED  BY  A  LEOPARD. 


1,0  NX*  TOFGUED   AFRICAN  CHAMELEON. 


THE   GIRAFFE — COL.    ROOSEVELT   KILLED   A   JUNE    SPECIMEN    OF   THIB 
BEAUTIFUL  ANIMAL  AT   A   DISTANCE   OF  400   YABDS. 


BTKANQB   SHOE   B1LL  OF   AFRICA. 


FISH-EAGLES    CONTENDING   FOR  A   PRIZE. 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  145 

because  I  believed  it  must  come,  and  the  sooner  the  better,  and 
now  that  war  is  declared  I  have  no  right  to  ask  others  to  do  the 
fighting  and  stay  at  home  myself.' 

"The  regiment  of  rough  riders  was  an  original  American 
suggestion,  to  demonstrate  that  patriotism  and  indomitable  courage 
are  common  to  all  conditions  of  American  life.  The  same  great 
qualities  are  found  under  the  slouch  hat  of  the  cowboy,  and  the 
elegant  imported  tile  of  New  York's  gilded  youth.  Their  man 
ner  sms  are  the  veneers  of  the  West  and  the  Bast ;  their  manhood 
is  the  same. 

"In  that  hot,  and  pest-cursed  climate  of  Cuba  officers  had  op 
portunities  for  protection  from  miasma  and  fever  which  were  not 
possible  for  the  men.  But  the  Rough  Riders  endured  no  hard 
ships  nor  dangers  which  were  not  shared  by  their  colonel.  He 
helped  them  dig  the  ditches ;  he  stood  beside  them  in  the  deadly 
dampness  of  the  trenches.  No  floored  tent  for  him  if  his  comrades 
must  sleep  on  the  ground  and  under  the  sky. 

CHARGED  IN  ADVANCE  OF  HIS  MEN. 

"In  that  world-famed  charge  of  the  Rough  Riders  through 
the  hail  of  shot  and  up  the  hill  of  San  Juan,  their  colonel  was  a 
hundred  feet  in  advance.  The  bullets  whistling  by  him  are  rap 
idly  thinning  the  ranks  of  these  desperate  fighters.  The  colonel 
trips  and  falls  and  the  line  wavers,  but  in  a  moment  he  is  up  again, 
waving  his  sword,  climbing  and  shouting.  He  bears  a  charmed 
life.  He  clips  the  barbed  wire  fence  and  plunges  through,  yelling 
'Come  on,  boys  ;  come  on,  and  we  will  lick  hell  out  of  them.'  The 
moral  force  of  that  daring  cowed  and  awed  the  Spaniards,  and  they 
fled  from  their  fortified  heights  and  Santiago  was  ours. 

"Colonel  Roosevelt  is  the  typical  citizen-soldier.  The  sani 
tary  condition  of  our  army  in  Cuba  might  not  have  been  known 
for  weeks  through  the  regular  channels  of  inspection  and  report 
to  the  various  departments.  Here  the  citizen  in  the  colonel 
overcame  the  official  routine  reticence  of  the  soldier.  His  graphic 
letter  to  the  government  and  the  round  robin  he  initiated  brought 
suddenly  and  sharply  to  our  attention  the  frightful  dangers  of  dis- 

10— M.L. 


146  MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

ease  and  death,  and  resulted  in  our  boys  being  brought  immedi 
ately  home.  He  may  have  been  subject  to  court  martial  for  vio 
lating  the  articles  of  war,  but  the  humane  impulses  of  the  people 
gave  him  gratitude  and  applause. 

"It  is  seldom  in  political  conflicts,  when  new  and  unexpected 
issues  have  to  be  met  and  decided,  that  a  candidate  can  be  found 
who  personifies  the  popular  and  progressive  side  of  those  issues. 
Representative  men  move  the  masses  to  enthusiasm  and  are  more 
easily  understood  than  measures.  Lincoln,  with  his  immortal 
declaration,  made  at  a  time  when  to  make  it  insured  his  defeat  by 
Douglas  for  the  United  States  Senate,  that  'a  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  believe  this  Government  cannot 
endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free,'  embodied  the  anti- 
slavery  doctrine. 

HERO  OF  THE  HOUR. 

"Grant,  with  Appomattox  and  the  parole  of  honor  to  the  Con 
federate  Army  behind  him,  stood  for  the  perpetuity  of  union  and 
liberty.  McKinley,  by  his  long  and  able  advocacy  of  its  princi 
ples,  is  the  leading  spirit  for  the  protection  of  American  industries. 
For  this  year,  for  this  crisis,  for  the  voters  of  the  Empire  State, 
for  the  young  men  of  the  country  and  the  upward,  onward,  and 
outward  trend  of  the  United  States,  the  candidate  of  candidates  is 
the  hero  of  Santiago,  the  idol  of  the  Rough  Riders — Colonel 
Theodore  Roosevelt." 

Enthusiastic  cheering  followed  Senator  Depew's  eloquent 
speech.  It  was  plain  that  Roosevelt  was  the  hero  of  the  hour. 
Other  speeches  in  behalf  of  both  candidates  were  made,  and  when 
the  result  of  the  balloting  was  announced,  Judge  Cady  rose  and 
said :  "  On  behalf  of  Governor  Frank  S.  Black  and  on  behalf  of 
every  delegate  who  voted  for  him  in  this  convention,  I  say  they 
will  stand  by  the  nomination  of  Colonel  Roosevelt  as  he  stood  by 
the  country.  We  will  not  be  in  the  reserve  forces,  but  we  will  be 
at  the  front  and  we  will  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  best 
of  you  and  push  Colonel  Roosevelt  into  the  executive  chair  by  a 
tremendous  majority.  More  than  that  we  will  take  the  executive 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  14T 

chair  for  Colonel  Roosevelt  as  he  took  as  a  Rough  Rider  the 
heights  of  San  Juan." 

The  vote  of  the  convention  was  753  for  Roosevelt  and  218  for 
Black.  The  nomination  of  the  hero  of  Santiago  was  made 
unanimous  amidst  cheers  that  shook  the  building  where  the  dele 
gates  were  assembled.  It  was  believed  that  never  before  in  the 
State  of  New  York  had  a  political  convention  done  a  better  piece  of 
work.  If  the  friends  of  Governor  Black  felt  some  disappointment 
over  the  outcome  of  the  convention  they  wisely  concealed  it,  and 
yielded  their  personal  preferences  to  the  will  of  the  majority. 

Republicans  in  the  State  of  New  York  and  throughout  the 
country  gave  hearty  response  to  the  nomination.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
was  invulnerable  against  all  attacks  on  the  ground  of  political 
dishonesty  or  incapacity.  Young  as  he  was  he  had  shown  great 
ability  as  a  public  official,  and  it  was  believed  he  was  more  than 
equal  to  the  situation.  When  told  that  people  thought  he  would 
make  a  good  Governor,  his  modest  reply  was,  "  I  will  try." 

A  MAN  WITH  A  LEVEL  HEAD. 

This  answer  was  characteristic  of  the  man.  The  repeated 
honors  thrust  upon  him  have  never  turned  his  head.  Having  no 
element  of  self-conceit  in  his  composition,  and  being  in  no  sense 
a  victim  of  pride,  he  busies  himself,  not  with  his  own  successes, 
but  with  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  his  office.  The  nomina 
tion  for  Governor  came  in  the  natural  order  of  events.  He  had 
worked  up  to  it  by  his  own  efforts  for  better  government,  and  it 
did  not  take  him  by  surprise.  If  he  had  been  defeated  in  the  con 
vention  he  would  not  have  berated  his  party,  but  would  have 
proved  his  loyalty  by  ardently  supporting  the  nominee. 

No  loud  hurrah  characterized  the  beginning  of  the  campaign 
that  followed  his  nomination.  It  was  almost  taken  for  granted 
that  he  would  be  elected,  and  that  no  special  effort  to  this  end  was 
needed.  A  very  respectable  candidate  was  put  in  the  field  by  the 
opposing  party,  one  comparatively  unknown,  and  therefore  one 
against  whom  little  could  be  said.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  not  dis 
posed  to  take  any  chances,  and  at  once  prepared  to  wage  an  active 


148  MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

campaign.  Although  the  Democratic  nominee,  Augustus  Van 
Wyck,  was  not  likely  to  draw  to  himself  the  independent  vote,  it 
was  thought  that  he  would  receive  the  vote  of  his  party,  and  this 
would  make  him  a  formidable  antagonist. 

ROOSEVELT  ON  THE  STUMP. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  prepared  to  stump  the  State.  The  people 
waited  for  his  coming.  He  was  the  man  they  wished  to  see  and 
hear.  Mr.  Odell,  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee, 
and  afterward  Governor,  rather  objected  to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  plan 
of  making  a  tour  through  the  State,  yielding  only  when  it  was 
found  that  no  other  speaker  could  satisfy  the  demand  of  the  peo 
ple  to  meet  the  leader  of  the  Rough  Riders  face  to  face.  When  it 
was  known  that  he  was  to  appear  at  any  town  there  was  an  im 
mense  outpouring  of  the  people  to  greet  him.  He  passed  rapidly 
from  place  to  place,  addressed  the  crowds  from  the  rear  platform 
of  his  car,  and  made  in  all  about  three  hundred  speeches.  They 
were  sharp,  incisive,  right  to  the  point,  and  admirably  adapted  to 
the  average  intelligence  of  those  who  heard  him. 

In  a  speech  at  Utica  he  made  these  significant  statements : 
"  My  opponents  ask  you  to  vote  only  as  New  Yorkers.  I  ask  you 
to  vote  as  New  Yorkers ;  I  ask  you  to  remember  every  State 
issue ;  I  ask  you  to  keep  in  mind  carefully  every  matter  concern 
ing  the  welfare  of  New  York. 

"But  I  ask  you  also  to  remember  that  you  are  not  only  New 
Yorkers,  but  Americans,  that  you  have  interests  not  only  in  the 
State  but  in  the  Union — which  is  greater  than  any  State — that 
your  welfare  is  bound  up  with  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  that 
the  honor  of  each  man  of  you  is  sensitive  to  the  honor  of  the  flag. 

"I  ask  you  to  remember  that  you  cannot,  if  you  would,  help 
letting  your  ballots  this  fall  have  their  effect  throughout  the 
Union.  You  cannot  vote  a  half  ballot.  You  cannot  put  a  caveat 
on  your  ballot  that  will  only  be  heard  of  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

"As  New  York  goes  on  November  8th,  so  the  friends  of 
honest  finance,  the  believers  in  national  honor  throughout  the 
Union  will  be  elated  or  cast  down." 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  149 

The  election  in  November  gave  Mr.  Roosevelt  a  plurality  of 
18,079.  A  very  considerable  part  of  the  vote  he  received  was  a 
personal  tribute  to  his  sterling  qualities  as  a  man,  a  public  official 
and  a  patriot  who  was  ready  to  place  his  country  above  every  other 
consideration. 

On  the  3ist  of  December,  1898,  he  took  the  oath  of  office  at 
the  capitol  in  Albany,  and  on  Monday,  January  2d,  was  inaug 
urated  as  the  36th  Governor  of  New  York,  thus  taking  his  place 
in  a  line  of  distinguished  men  that  runs  back  to  1777,  at  which 
time  the  State  constitution  was  adopted.  The  inauguration  cere 
mony  was  held  in  the  Assembly  Chamber  at  n  o'clock.  Mr. 
Black,  the  retiring  Governor,  made  a  felicitous  address  of  welcome 
to  the  new  executive. 

The  first  message  of  Governor  Roosevelt  was  sent  to  the 
Legislature  on  January  4th.  It  bore  all  the  evidences  of  his 
thoughtful  mind  and  scholarly  attainments. 

GOVERNOR'S  FIRST  MESSAGE. 

He  touched  upon  the  Civil  Service  as  follows  :  "  The  methods 
of  appointment  to  the  civil  service  of  the  State  are  now  in  utter 
confusion,  no  less  than  three  great  systems  being  in  effect — one  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  one  in  other  cities,  and  one  in  the  State  at 
large.  I  recommend  that  a  law  be  passed  introducing  one  uniform 
practice  for  the  entire  State,  and  providing,  as  required  by  the 
Constitution,  for  the  enforcement  of  civil  service  regulations  in 
the  State  and  its  subdivisions." 

On  the  labor  question  he  declared :  "  The  development  in 
extent  and  variety  of  industries  has  necessitated  legislation  in 
the  interest  of  labor.  This  legislation  is  not  necessarily  against 
the  interests  of  capital  ;  on  the  contrary,  if  wisely  devised  it  is  for 
the  benefit  of  both  laborers  and  employers.  We  have  very  wisely 
passed  many  laws  for  the  benefit  of  labor,  in  themselves  good, 
and  for  the  time  being,  sufficient;  but  experience  has  shown  that 
the  full  benefit  of  these  laws  is  not  obtained  through  the  lack  of 
proper  means  of  enforcing  them  and  the  failure  to  make  any  one 
department  responsible  for  their  enforcement" 


150  MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

The  Governor  also  had  something  to  say  concerning  the  late 
war :  "  We  are  not  merely  New  Yorkers.  We  are  Americans  ;  and 
the  interests  of  all  Americans,  whether  from  the  North,  the  South, 
the  Bast  or  the  great  West,  are  equally  dear  to  the  men  of  the  Em 
pire  State.  As  we  grow  into  a  mighty  nation,  which,  whether  it  will 
or  not,  must  inevitably  play  a  great  part  for  good  or  for  evil  in  the 
affairs  of  the  world  at  large,  the  people  of  New  York  wish  it  under 
stood  that  they  look  at  all  questions  of  American  foreign  policy 
from  the  most  thoroughly  national  standpoint." 

It  soon  became  evident  that  a  man  of  unusual  vigor  was  in 
the  Governor's  chair.  He  had  no  idea  of  being  a  mere  figure-head, 
or  a  tool  of  men  who  had  "axes  to  grind."  He  saw  abundant  oc 
casion  for  many  changes  and  reforms  in  the  State  laws,  and  for  the 
enactment  of  special  legislation  to  correct  old  abuses.  He  went 
about  the  work  in  his  own  energetic  way,  and  even  those  who  did 
not  altogether  approve  the  measures  he  proposed  could  not  doubt 
but  his  one  aim  was  to  promote  the  public  welfare  and  render  the 
best  service  to  all  interests  affected  by  State  legislation. 

IMPROVING  CONDITION  OF  THE  POOR. 

He  gave  all  the  aid  possible  to  the  Tenement  Commission  that 
had  for  its  object  the  closing  of  sweat-shops  and  improving  the 
condition  of  the  poor.  There  were  grievous  evils  from  which  the 
people  in  tenement  house  districts  were  suffering,  and  persistent 
efforts  were  made  to  abolish  these  and  better  the  social,  sanitary 
and  moral  condition  of  the  localities  in  large  cities  which  were  most 
crowded  with  population. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  again  confronted  with  the  old  chronic  prob 
lem  of  the  police  force  of  New  York.  L/aws  had  been  enacted 
apparently  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  themselves.  Whether  from 
stupidity  or  chicanery  the  enactments  were  such  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  effect  any  change  for  the  better  in  the  administration 
of  the  police  force.  Responsibility  could  be  placed  upon  no  one, 
and  at  this  vital  part  of  city  government  there  was  almost  com 
plete  paralysis.  Senator  Platt  seconded  the  Governor's  efforts  to 
mend  matters  by  advocating  the  measures  proposed,  but  through. 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK.  151 

the  apathy  and  neglect  of  Republican  Senators  the  proposed  en 
actments  failed  to  carry. 

Governor  Roosevelt  succeeded  in  reforming  the  administra 
tion  of  the  canals,  by  making  the  Canal  Commission  non-partisan. 
He  also  applied  the  merit  system  to  county  offices,  thereby  greatly 
improving  the  civil  service. 

But  the  Governor  soon  showed  that  he  was  gunning  for  bigger 
game.  The  great  wealthy  corporations  of  New  York,  holding  val 
uable  franchises,  had  long  taken  advantage  of  some  legal  techni 
cality  and  escaped  paying  taxes.  Mr.  Roosevelt  claimed  that  the 
State  was  defrauded,  that  these  corporations  were  legitimate  sub 
jects  for  taxation,  and  that  to  exempt  them  and  compel  the  people 
to  pay  the  large  share  of  taxation  that  properly  belonged  to  these 
institutions  was  nothing  less  than  public  robbery.  It  soon  became 
evident  that  he  had  the  hottest  kind  of  a  fight  on  hand.  Fierce 
opposition  was  aroused,  both  within  his  own  party  and  without, 
and  the  most  active  and  powerful  agencies  combined  to  compass 
his  defeat. 

CORPORATIONS  BROUGHT  TO  TERMS. 

A  cry  went  up  like  that  which  greeted  Paul  at  Ephesus, 
"  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,"  and  men  ran  to  and  fro  declar 
ing  that  their  craft  was  in  danger.  The  corporations  had  been  so 
long  undisturbed  that  they  resented  any  demands  made  upon  them 
as  almost  an  infringement  of  their  vested  rights.  But  Governor 
Roosevelt  called  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  and  secured 
the  passage  of  a  bill,  which,  if  it  was  not  as  drastic  and  compre 
hensive  as  he  wished,  established  the  principle  of  street  franchise 
legislation.  By  reason  of  this  notable  victory  the  State  was  many 
million  dollars  richer,  and  the  burdens  of  taxation  that  had  been 
borne  by  the  poor  and  people  in  moderate  circumstances  were 
rendered  so  much  the  lighter. 

The  struggle  thus  ended  was  one  of  the  fiercest  ever  fought 
to  a  conclusion.  Although  the  object  sought  was  a  fair  and  just 
equalization  of  taxes  between  the  rich  and  poor,  every  possible 
scheme,  every  influence  that  could  be  commanded,  and  every 


152  MR  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

appeal  that  could  be  made  to  sordid  and  selfish  motives,  were 
employed  to  block  legislation  and  defeat  justice.  This  one  act 
on  the  Governor's  part  was  hailed  by  the  people  of  the  State  with 
the  greatest  satisfaction  and  added  to  a  popularity  that  was  already 
great. 

It  was  during  his  term  of  office  that  Admiral  Dewey  returned 
from  Manila  to  receive  a  welcome  such  as  has  seldom  been 
accorded  to  any  hero.  New  York  was  crowded  with  visitors  from 
near  and  far  who  had  come  to  witness  the  celebration  of  our  naval 
victory  in  the  Philippines  and  do  honor  to  the  famous  commander 
who  had  won  it.  Both  the  Army  and  Navy  were  splendidly 
represented  in  the  procession.  Gay  uniforms,  fluttering  plumes 
and  flags,  strains  of  thrilling  music  and  the  appearance  of  the 
nation's  most  renowned  defenders,  all  conspired  to  form  a  specta 
cle  that  would  live  forever  in  the  memory  of  those  who  witnessed 
it.  There  was  every  demonstration  of  patriotic  delight — tumul 
tuous  shouts  and  cheers,  fluttering  handkerchiefs,  waving  hats, 
loud  huzzas  from  hundreds  of  thousands  of  excited  spectators. 

GREAT  POPULAR  DEMONSTRATION. 

After  the  brilliant  uniforms  and  shining  equipments  had 
passed  there  came  a  man  in  plain  citizen's  dress,  mounted  on  a 
steady  and  not  remarkably  showy  horse,  his  form  erect  and 
his  kindly  face  sending  back  a  greeting  to  the  roar  of  plaudits 
that  accompanied  him  at  every  step.  From  one  end  of  the  line 
\>  the  other  there  was  an  enthusiastic  and  continuous  demonstra 
tion  that  cannot  be  portrayed.  All  this  loud  acclaim,  this 
magnificent  welcome,  told  better  than  words  can  of  the  hearty 
admiration  of  the  people  for  the  hero  of  Santiago,  the  fearless 
reformer,  the  wise  and  brilliant  statesman,  the  Governor  of 
our  greatest  commonwealth,  not  more  distinguished  on  account 
of  his  high  office  than  for  his  sturdy  virtues,  his  lofty  ideals  and 
noble  manhood. 

It  is  said  that  people  are  always  looking  for  a  hero,  someone 
whom  they  can  idolize  and  worship.  No  weak  man  ever  has  been, 
or  ever  can  be,  thus  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  populace.  A 


MR.  ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK. 


153 


man,  to  be  a  hero,  must  have  qualities  that  lift  him  above  his 
fellows.  He  must  especially  be  endowed  with  courage,  that  fear 
less  spirit  which  faces  without  flinching  every  danger,  whether  in 
battle  or  public  life.  He  must  be  born  to  command;  he  must  be 
distinguished  by  achievements  which  eclipse  the  dull  glory  of 
other  men.  Roosevelt  has  climbed  to  his  high  position  by  doing 
well  and  by  faithfully  performing  his  duty  in  every  line  of  activity. 
This  is  the  kind  of  man  the  republic  is  never  slow  to  honor. 


CHAPTER  X. 
ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

NATIONAL  REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1900 — ENTHUSIASM  FOR 
ROOSEVELT — REFUSES  NOMINATION  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT — 
COMPELLED  TO  YIELD  TO  EMPHATIC  DEMAND  OF  THE  DELE 
GATES—GREAT  FUROR  OVER  His  NOMINATION— THRILLING 
EXTRACTS  FROM  His  SPEECHES— NOTIFIED  OF  His  NOMINA 
TION — His  REMARKABLE  TOUR  IN  THE  CAMPAIGN — ELECTED 
BY  ENORMOUS  PLURALITY. 

WITH  the  usual  accompaniments  of  excitement,  bustle  and 
enthusiasm  the  Republican  National  Convention  as 
sembled  in  Philadelphia,  June  19,  1900.  From  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  even  from  Hawaii  came  delegates,  and  many  others, 
who,  although  not  entitled  to  seats  in  the  convention,  counted 
themselves  among  the  faithful,  and  were  eager  to  be  present  on 
an  occasion  of  such  great  moment. 

Public  men,  entitled  to  be  ranked  as  veterans,  and  others  of 
more  recent  celebrity,  as  well  as  many  would-be  statesmen  who 
had  not  yet  blossomed  into  fame,  poured  into  the  railway  stations, 
thronged  the  streets  and  hotels,  looked  with  veneration  upon  the 
sacred  relics  and  memorials  of  the  historic  spot  where  our  nation 
was  born,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  surging,  shouting  throng  that 
crowded  the  immense  building  where  the  convention  was  held. 

This  building  was  said  to  accommodate  15,000  persons;  a  more 
accurate  estimate  would  be  18,000.  At  a  point  farthest  from  the 
platform,  or  even  much  nearer,  the  voices  of  the  most  stentorian 
speakers  could  scarcely  be  heard,  and  to  a  large  part  of  the  as 
sembled  thousands  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  were  almost 
a  ludicrous  pantomine.  The  opinion  was  freely  expressed  that, 
as  it  was  really  inconvenient  to  have  a  convention  hall  that  would 
take  in  the  entire  American  people,  a  building  of  smaller  dimen- 

154 


ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT.    „  155 

sions  and  less  ambitious  in  the  matter  of  size,  would  have  been 
more  sensible  and  better  suited  to  an  orderly,  dignified  assemblage. 
Long  before  the  convention  was  called  to  order  two  certainties 
were  plainly  apparent.  One  was  that  President  McKinley  would 
be  re-nominated  by  acclamation;  the  other  was  that  the  nomina 
tion  for  Vice-President  might  be  given  to  any  one  of  six  or  eight 
candidates,  each  of  whom  had  his  friends  and  supporters.  There 
was  the  usual  number  of  favorite  sons,  all  of  whom  were  willing, 
at  a  sacrifice,  to  come  to  the  country's  rescue  and  accept  the  office 
next  to  the  highest  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  And  so  there  was 
wire-pulling,  electioneering,  formations  of  cliques  and  combina 
tions,  and  hurrying  to  and  fro  to  convince  delegates  from  the 
various  other  States  and  obtain  pledges.  It  was  not  surmised  at 
the  time  that  all  these  plans,  so  nicely  laid,  would  be  blown  away 
like  chaff  before  the  wind  by  the  magic  of  one  name  that  possessed 
an  irresistible  power. 

LARGER  THAN  HIS  STATE. 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  arrived  on  the  ground  his  presence  had 
more  meaning  than  that  of  any  other  man.  He  was  Governor  of 
New  York,  but  was  larger  than  his  State.  No  territorial  limits 
could  bound  and  circumscribe  the  man.  Neither  Senator  Wolcott 
with  his  fervid  oratory,  nor  Depew  with  his  brilliant  wit  and 
rounded  periods,  nor  Lodge  with  his  intellectual  acuteness,  nor 
Thurston  or  Fairbanks  with  their  superb  rhetoric,  nor  Secretary 
Long  with  his  grand  record,  nor  sturdy  old  Mark  Hanna  with  his 
practical  sense,  counted  for  so  much  as  the  Rough  Rider  who 
stormed  the  hill  of  San  Juan.  An  expression  of  popular  senti 
ment  in  favor  of  Roosevelt  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  espe 
cially  the  Middle  West  and  West,  came  rushing  in  like  the  waves 
of  the  sea. 

There  were  those  who  would  have  been  willing  to  place  his 
name  first  on  the  ticket,  but  he  was  too  loyal  to  his  chief  to  tole 
rate  such  a  proceeding.  Besides,  he  had  some  projects  which,  as 
Governor  of  New  York,  he  wished  to  carry  into  effect,  and  he 
honestly  felt  that  he  could  serve  his  party  in  no  other  way  so  well 


156  ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

as  to  seek  a  re-election  as  Governor,  and  continue  the  good  work 
he  had  begun  in  the  Empire  State.  He  stubbornly  refused  at 
first  to  listen  to  the  proposition  to  place  his  name  on  the  national 
ticket,  and  was  a  good  deal  annoyed  at  the  persistent  clamor  of 
those  delegates  who  would  not  take  no  for  an  answer. 

The  party  leaders  were  not  ignorant  of  his  phenomenal  pop 
ularity.  It  was  evident  on  the  surface  of  political  affairs  and  be 
low  the  surface.  They  could  not  hide  or  ignore  it.  It  knocked 
at  their  very  doors;  it  thrust  itself  upon  them  at  every  turn.  They 
wanted  a  running  mate  for  McKinley  who  would  not  be  a  drag 
upon  him,  a  man  who  would  add  strength  to  the  ticket.  The  two 
shrewdest  politicians  in  the  United  States,  Senators  Platt  and 
Quay,  favored  his  nomination  after  they  had  carefully  looked  over 
the  situation.  He  was  too  independent  and  headstrong  to  nod  his 
subservience  to  any  political  "boss,"  and  it  was  thought  the  Vice- 
Presidency  would  be  a  comfortable,  easy  berth  for  him  where  he 
would  be  harmless. 

HUNTING  FOR  A  CANDIDATE. 

There  were  day  conferences,  evening  conferences;  and  mid 
night  conferences  to  canvass  the  merits  of  the  available  candidates, 
but  there  was  no  escaping  the  fact  that  the  Roosevelt  sentiment 
was  in  the  very  air,  and  with  all  his  firmness  he  had  no  power  to 
resist  it. 

Speaking  of  the  nomination  of  some  Vice-Presidential  candi 
dates  previous  to  1896,  he  said:  "  It  will  be  noticed  that  most  of 
these  evils  aiise  from  the  fact  that  the  Vice-President,  under  ordin 
ary  circumstances,  possesses  so  little  real  power.  He  presides 
over  the  Senate,  and  he  has  in  Washington  a  position  of  marked 
social  importance;  but  his  political  weight  as  Vice-  President  is 
almost  ml.  There  is  always  a  chance  that  he  may  become  Presi 
dent.  As  this  is  only  a  chance  it  seems  quite  impossible  to  per 
suade  politicians  to  give  it  the  proper  weight.  This  certainly  does 
not  seem  right.  The  Vice-President  should,  so  far  as  possible, 
represent  the  same  views  and  principles  that  have  secured  the 
nomination  and  election  of  the  President;  and  he  should  be  a  man 


ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT.  157 

trusted  and  able  in  the  event  of  any  accident  to  his  chief,  to  take 
up  the  work  of  the  latter  just  where  it  was  left." 

When  these  words  were  spoken  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  dream 
that  he  would  ever  be  one  who,  by  holding  the  office  of  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  would  have  a  chance  to  become  President,  and  this  view  of 
the  Vice-Presidency  he  held  consistently  at  the  very  time  when 
he  was  nominated  at  Philadelphia.  That  he  thrust  himself  out  of 
consideration  and  accepted  the  nomination  against  his  own  wishes 
and  better  judgment,  is  ample  proof  of  his  deference  to  the  will  of 
the  people.  It  was  not  a  question  with  him  as  to  what  he  wished, 
but  what  the  public  wanted.  He  was  a  patriot  when  he  drew  his 
sword  and  led  his  brave  regiment  at  Santiago;  he  was  no  less  a 
patriot  when  he  consented  to  accept  an  office  that  he  did  not  want. 

BEGINS  WITH  A  BRILLIANT  PARADE. 

The  convention  began  its  sessions,  June  iQth,  in  Philadelphia. 
On  the  evening  of  the  i8th  there  was  a  brilliant  parade  of 
25,000  Republicans,  comprising  the  Allied  Clubs  of  Philadelphia, 
and  various  Republican  organizations  from  near  and  distant 
cities,  that,  had  arrived  to  attend  the  convention.  The  route  of 
the  parade  was  made  brilliant  by  colored  lights,  waving  flags  and 
bands  playing  patriotic  music.  On  Tuesday,  the  iQth,  Conven 
tion  Hall  took  on  an  animated  appearance  about  n  o'clock,  when 
the  seats  surrounding  the  enclosure  reserved  for  the  delegates 
began  to  fill  up.  The  delegates  began  arriving  early,  those  from 
the  Western  and  Southern  States  being  the  first  to  put  in "  an 
appearance.  A  notable  feature  in  the  gathering  of  the  delegates 
was  the  very  orderly  way  in  which  the  majority  found  their  seats. 

Governor  Roosevelt,  Senator  Depew,  and  National  Chairman 
Hanna  walked  down  the  central  aisle  just  at  the  noon  hour,  and 
were  by  far  the  leading  characters  of  the  gathering  celebrities. 
Cheer  after  cheer  rolled  out  over  the  great  hall  for  Roosevelt, 
who  found  his  chair  close  by  Senator  Platt.  Mr.  Depew  stood 
aside  to  allow  Hanna  to  pass,  and  then  took  his  place  with  the 
New  Yorkers,  sitting  down  with  Roosevelt:  and  Senator  Brackitt 
of  Saratoga. 


158  ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

Everybody  in  the  hall  rose  en  masse  to  greet  the  Rough 
Rider.  The  arrival  of  Governor  Roosevelt  was  the  occasion  of 
the  first  lively  scene  in  the  hall.  Instantly  the  Governor  was 
recognized  and  a  cheer  went  up  which  continued  until  the  Rough 
Rider  reached  his  seat.  People  stood  on  chairs  and  craned  their 
necks  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  man  who  was  believed  to  be  the 
choice  of  the  convention  for  Vice-President. 

The  interest  of  the  convention  and  that  of  the  public  centred 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  third  day.  The  preliminaries,  includ 
ing  organization,  adopting  the  platform  and  listening  to  lauda 
tions  of  the  party  and  its  splendid  achievements,  occupied  the 
first  two  days,  and  it  only  remained  to  make  the  nominations.  On 
the  morning  of  the  third  day,  long  before  10  o'clock,  the  hour  set 
for  the  reassembling  of  the  convention,  the  hall  was  surrounded 
by  an  immense  army  of  people,  who  besieged  all  the  doors  and 
entrances,  clamoring  for  admission.  When  the  doors  were  opened 
they  surged  like  a  flood  submerging  the  vast  hall. 

STAGE  A  BIG  BOUQUET. 

The  stage  had  been  freshened  with  green  things,  and  at  each 
corner,  like  a  touch  of  flaming  color,  red  peonies  shot  into  the  air. 
The  band  in  the  north  gallery  was  at  work  early  with  inspiring 
music.  It  was  much  warmer  than  on  preceding  days.  The  sun 
blazed  down  through  the  space  in  the  roof  and  the  heat  gave 
promise  of  being  oppressive.  But  the  ladies  were  attired  in  their 
thinnest  muslins,  everybody  was  provided  with  a  fan,  and  there 
was  no  complaint.  One  old  fellow  in  the  gallery,  with  charming 
disregard  of  the  proprieties,  divested  himself  of  coat  and  vest, 
hung  them  over  the  rail,  and  took  his  seat. 

Three  minutes  before  10  o'clock  the  Kansas  delegation, 
headed  by  Colonel  Barton,  with  bright  silk  sunflowers  pinned  to 
their  lapels,  aroused  the  first  enthusiasm  as  they  marched  down 
the  main  aisle  bearing  a  white  banner  inscribed  in  big  black 
letters  with  the  words  "Kansas  is  for  Roosevelt."  As  the  dele-* 
gates  debouched  into  the  pit  the  utmost  good  nature  was  mani 
fested.  The  contest  was  over.  It  was  to  be  a  love  feast,  a  jubilee, 


ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT.  159 

and  not  a  contest,  which  the  day  was  to  witness.  Governor 
Roosevelt  entered  at  exactly  10  o'clock.  He  made  a  rush  for  his 
seat,  but  he  did  not  escape  the  keen  eye  of  the  thousands,  and 
they  set  up  a  cheer  at  sight  of  him. 

One  of  the  questions,  as  already  stated,  that  agitated  the 
convention  from  the  start  was,  who  should  be  the  candidate  for 
Vice-President.  There  was  a  strong,  unanimous  feeling  in  favor 
of  Governor  Roosevelt,  of  New  York,  but  he  repeatedly  expressed 
his  wish  to  have  some  other  man  selected,  as  he  wished  to  be  the 
nominee  for  Governor  of  the  Empire  State,  and  believed  that  in 
this  capacity  he  could  best  serve  the  interests  of  the  party  at 
large. 

MANY  CONFLICTING  REPORTS. 

It  was  reported  that  the  Administration  at  Washington  had 
preferences  for  certain  men.  This  again  was  contradicted,  and 
there  were  so  many  conflicting  reports  that  on  the  evening  of  the 
second  day  of  the  convention  Senator  Hanna,  Chairman  of 
the  Republican  National  Committee,  issued  the  following 
statement : 

"  The  Administration  has  had  no  candidate  for  Vice-President. 
It  has  not  been  for  or  against  any  candidate.  It  has  deemed  that 
the  convention  should  select  the  candidate,  and  that  has  been  my 
position  throughout.  It  has  been  a  free  field  for  all.  In  these 
circumstances  several  eminent  Republicans  have  been  proposed  ; 
all  of  them  distinguished  men,  with  many  friends.  I  will  now 
say  that  on  behalf  of  all  of  those  candidates,  and  I  except  none,  I 
have  within  the  last  twelve  hours  been  asked  to  give  my  advice. 
After  consulting  with  as  many  delegates  as  possible  in  the  time 
within  my  disposal,  I  have  concluded  to  accept  the  responsibility 
involved  in  this  request.  In  the  present  situation,  with  the 
strong  and  earnest  sentiment  of  the  delegates  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  for  Governor  Roosevelt,  and  since  President 
McKinley  is  to  be  nominated  without  a  dissenting  voice,  it  is  my 
judgment  that  Governor  Roosevelt  should  be  nominated  for  Vice- 
President  with  the  same  unanimity." 


160  ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

This  announcement  of  Senator  Hanna  was  made  after  a  long 
consultation  with  many  leaders  of  the  party.  He  called  the 
newspaper  men  into  one  of  the  rooms  where  the  consultation  had 
taken  place  and  read  from  manuscript.  The  effect  of  this  state 
ment  was  to  cause  instant  and  unanimous  agreement  among  the 
delegates  for  Roosevelt. 

Senator  Foraker's  nomination  of  President  McKinley  for 
a  second  term  was  a  prelude  to  a  thunderous  storm  of  acclamations, 
which  continued  for  upward  of  ten  minutes,  and  it  was  fully 
fifteen  minutes  before  the  applause  had  so  far  subsided  as  to  per 
mit  Governor  Roosevelt  to  take  the  platform  and  second  the 
nomination.  Every  noise  that  the  human  voice  is  capable  of 
producing  entered  into  the  uproar — cheers,  shrill  and  guttural  and 
deep  ;  delirious  ejaculations,  born  of  excitement  and  nervousness, 
and  that  could  never  be  made  under  ordinary  pressure. 

MAGNIFICENT  OVATION. 

When  the  only  Vice-Presidential  candidate,  erect  and  burly  of 
form  and  spectacled,  rose  briskly  from  his  seat,  it  was  the  signal  for 
more  applause,  which  culminated  in  a  magnificent  ovation  as, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  with  head  thrown  back  and  shoulders 
squared  as  if  on  dress  parade,  the  hero  of  San  Juan  faced  the 
delegates  and  spectators  to  reinforce  the  arguments  made  by 
Foraker  why  William  McKinley  should  be  renominated.  Having 
finally  secured  the  attention  of  the  Convention  after  many 
deprecating  waves  of  his  right  hand,  New  York's  chief  executive 
proceeded  to  demonstrate  that  the  Republican  party  had  made  no 
mistake  in  uniting  upon  him  for  second  place  on  the  ticket.  The 
Rough  Rider's  seconding  speech  was  a  masterful  exhibition  of 
mental,  grammatical  and  physical  virility.  Roosevelt  struck  out 
straight  from  the  shoulder,  landing  many  blows  calculated  to  jar  the 
Democratic  party.  He  went  to  the  very  core  of  the  great  ques 
tions  of  the  day  with  a  directness  that  delighted  his  hearers. 

He  closed  his  virile,  masterly  speech,  seconding  the  nomina 
tion  of  McKinley,  as  follows  : 

"We  stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  century,  a  century  big 


ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT.  161 

with  the  fate  of  the  great  nations  of  the  earth.  It  rests  with  us  now 
to  decide  whether,  in  the  opening  years  of  that  century,  we  shall 
march  forward  to  fresh  triumphs,  or  whether,  at  the  outset,  we 
shall  deliberately  cripple  ourselves  for  the  contest.  Is  America 
a  weakling,  to  shrink  from  the  world  work  that  must  be  done  by 
the  world  powers  ?  No.  The  young  giant  of  the  West  stands  on 
a  continent  that  clasps  the  crest  of  an  ocean  in  either  hand. 
Our  nation,  glorious  in  youth  and  strength,  looks  into  the  future 
with  fearless  and  eager  eyes,  and  rejoices  as  a  strong  man  to  run 
a  race.  We  do  not  stand  in  craven  mood,  asking  to  be  spared  the 
task,  cringing  as  we  gaze  on  the  contest.  No.  We  challenge  the 
proud  privilege  of  doing  the  work  that  Providence  allots  us,  and 
we  face  the  coming  years  high  of  heart  and  resolute  of  faith  that 
to  our  people  is  given  the  right  to  win  such  honor  and  renown  as 
has  never  yet  been  granted  to  the  peoples  of  mankind." 

ROOSEVELT  PUT  IN  NOMINATION. 

The  furor  over  the  nomination  of  McKinley  having  subsided, 
the  next  in  order  was  the  nomination  of  Roosevelt  for  Vice-Presi 
dent.  Senator  Depew,  of  New  York,  had  been  selected  for  this 
purpose.  The  favor  with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  immense 
assemblage  was  shown  in  the  loud  calls  that  brought  him  to  the 
platform.  He  was  in  his  happiest  mood.  His  speech,  brim 
ming  over  with  eloquent  passages,  spicy  sayings  and  pow 
erful  appeals,  was  like  an  explosion  of  fireworks,  and  kept  the 
multitude  in  constant  excitement  and  hilarity,  which  was  evi 
denced  by  loud  and  repeated  cheers  and  acclamations.  The 
enthusiasm  for  the  hero  of  Santiago  was  at  lever  heat  and  no  at 
tempt  was  made  to  suppress  it. 

The  speech  closed  as  follows  :  "  We  have  the  best  ticket  ever 
presented.  (Applause.)  We  have  at  the  head  of  it  a  Western 
man  with  Eastern  notions,  and  we  have  at  the  other  end  an  East 
ern  man  with  Western  character.  (Loud  applause.)  The  statesman 
and  the  cowboy.  The  accomplished  man  of  affairs  and  the  heroic 
fighter.  The  man  who  has  proved  great  as  President,  and  the 
fighter  who  has  proved  great  as  Governor.  (Applause.)  We  leave 


162  ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

this  old  town  simply  to  keep  on  shouting  and  working  to  make  it 
unanimous  for  McKinley  and  Roosevelt." 

When  the  roll  of  States  was  called,  it  is  needless  to  say  every 
delegate  voted  for  Roosevelt  with  one  exception,  and  that  was 
himself.  A  demonstration  of  the  wildest  and  most  enthusiastic 
character,  and  lasting  half  an  hour,  followed  the  announcement 
that  Roosevelt  was  the  nominee  for  Vice-President.  Palms  were 
waved,  the  standards  of  the  various  delegations  were  hurried  to 
the  platform,  the  band  attempted  to  make  itself  heard  amid  the 
loud  acclaim,  processions  of  excited,  cheering  delegates  marched 
up  and  down  the  aisles,  the  building  rang  with  shouts  and  the 
popular  New  York  Governor  was  congratulated  by  as  many  as 
could  get  within  reach  of  him. 

OFFICIALLY  NOTIFIED  OF  NOMINATION. 

Governor  Roosevelt  was  officially  notified  of  his  nomination 
for  the  Vice-Presidency  at  his  country  home,  Sagamore,  near  Oys 
ter  Bay.  Shortly  after  12  o'clock  Senator  Wolcott  called  the  com 
mittee  to  the  porch.  There  in  the  cool  shade  of  the  awnings 
and  vines  he  read  the  formal  notification  in  his  clear  and  resonant 
voice.  When  Senator  Wolcott  concluded  Governor  Roosevelt 
stepped  a  pace  forward  and  replied.  His  voice  was  clear  and  firm, 
and  as  he  proceeded  there  were  numerous  interruptions  of  ap 
plause.  He  said : 

"  Mr.  Chairman  : — I  accept  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  with 
the  keenest  and  deepest  appreciation  of  what  it  means,  and  above 
all  of  the  responsibility  that  goes  with  it.  Everything  that  it  is 
in  my  power  to  do  will  be  done  to  secure  the  re-election  of  Presi 
dent  McKinley,  to  whom  it  has  been  given  in  this  crisis  of  the 
national  history  to  stand  for  and  embody  the  principles  which  lie 
closest  to  the  heart  of  every  American  worthy  of  the  name. 

"  This  is  very  much  more  than  a  mere  party  contest.  We 
stand  at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  and  the  people  have  now  to  de 
cide  whether  they  shall  go  forward  along  the  path  of  prosperity 
and  high  honor  abroad,  or  whether  they  will  turn  their  backs  upon 
what  has  been  done  during  the  past  three  years  ;  whether  they 


ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT.  163 

will  plunge  this  country  into  an  abyss  of  misery  and  disaster,  01 
what  is  worse  than  even  misery  and  disaster — shame. 

"  I  feel  that  we  have  a  right  to  appeal  not  merely  to  Re 
publicans,  but  to  all  good  citizens,  no  matter  what  may  have  been 
their  party  affiliations  in  the  past,  and  to  ask  them  on  the  strength 
of  the  record  that  President  McKinley  has  made  during  the  past 
three  years,  and  on  the  strength  of  the  threat  implied  in  what  was 
done  at  Kansas  City  a  few  days  ago,  to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  us,  perpetuating  the  conditions  under  which  we  have  reached 
a  degree  of  prosperity  never  before  attained  in  the  nation's  history 
and  under  which,  abroad,  we  have  put  the  American  flag  on  a 
level  where  it  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  country  has  been 
placed. 

A  FIGHT  FOR  THE  HONOR  OF  THE  FLAG. 

"  For  these  reasons  I  feel  we  have  a  right  to  look  forward  with 
confident  expectation  to  what  the  verdict  of  the  people  will  be  next 
November,  and  to  ask  all  men  to  whom  the  well  being  of  the 
country  and  the  honor  of  the  national  name  are  dear,  to  stand  with 
us  as  we  fight  for  prosperity  at  home  and  the  honor  of  the  flag 
abroad." 

A  round  of  applause  broke  out  as  the  Governor  concluded 
but  he  checked  it  instantly  by  saying : 

11  Gentlemen,  one  moment,  please.  Here,  Ned,"  he  cried  to 
Senator  Wolcott,  "this  is  not  to  the  national  committee,  but  I 
want  to  say  this  to  my  friends.  Friends  of  my  own  State  who  are 
here,  just  let  me  say  how  I  appreciate  seeing  so  many  of  you  here 
to-day.  I  want  to  say  I  am  more  than  honored  and  pleased  at 
having  been  made  a  candidate  for  Vice-President  on  the  national 
ticket,  but  you  cannot  imagine  how  badly  I  feel  at  leaving  the 
men  with  whom  I  have  endeavored  and  worked  for  civic  decency 
and  righteousness  and  honesty  in  New  York." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  entered,  heart  and  soul,  into  the  campaign  that 
followed  his  nomination.  He  was  the  one  "spell-binder"  who 
was  in  demand.  The  whole  country  wished  to  see  and  hear  him. 
With  a  special  train  he  traversed  many  States,  faced  millions  of 


164  ROOSEVELT  NOMINATED  FOR  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

people,  delivered  speeches  in  wigwams  and  public  halls,  and  from 
the  rear  end  of  his  car  addressed  the  multitudes  who  gathered 
wherever  it  was  known  he  was  to  make  a  stop.  He  proved  him 
self  to  be  a  most  effective  campaign  orator,  as  he  had  done  before, 
and  his  personal  efforts  largely  aided  in  securing  the  overwhelm 
ing  plurality  by  which  he  and  McKinley  were  elected. 

His  manner  on  the  stump  was  hearty  and  cordial.  His  talks 
were  plain,  forcible,  evidently  sincere,  and  infused  with  good  old- 
fashioned  commonsense.  He  spoke  because  he  had  something 
worth  saying.  He  did  not  come  before  people  as  a  ranter,  or  a 
politician.  Lofty  views  of  American  citizenship  and  the  duties  of 
every  American  toward  his  country,  pervaded  all  his  public 
utterances.  His  trip  through  the  States,  was  like  a  triumphal 
progress,  and  the  same  enthusiasm  that  aroused  the  National 
Convention  at  the  name  of  "Teddy"  greeted  him  everywhere. 


CHAPTER  XL 
SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT/ 

SECURES  THE  PEOPLE'S  CONFIDENCE — DOUBTS  SOON  DISPELLED — 
SWORN  IN  AS  PRESIDENT — FIRST  OFFICIAL  ACTS — REQUESTS 
THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CABINET  TO  RETAIN  OFFICE— PATHETIC 
SCENES  AT  BUFFALO  —  NEW  PRESIDENT  TO  CONTINUE  THE 
POLICY  OF  His  PREDECESSOR — AN  ESTIMATE  OF  His  CHARACTER 
AND  ABILITY — ENCOUNTERS  AT  THE  OUTSET  GRAVE  POLITICAL 
PROBLEMS— VIEWS  CONCERNING  CUBA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES. 

THE  appalling  tragedy  that  ended  the  life  of  President  McKinley, 
at  the  very  summit  of  his  fame  and  usefulness,  summoned 
Mr.  Roosevelt  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  It  was  a 
dark  day  for  our  country  when  the  fatal  shot  was  fired  that  struck 
down  a  President  who  was  universally  admired  and  beloved,  and 
who,  it  was  fondly  thought,  had  not  an  enemy  on  earth. 

Instantly  the  nation  turned  to  his  successor  with  a  feeling 
both  of  relief  and  apprehension.  The  vast  responsibility  and  the 
call  for  the  wisest  statesmanship  suddenly  thrust  upon  him,  and 
the  fact  that  he  was  now  to  guide  the  destinies  of  the  republic, 
caused  grave  fears  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  people,  and  an 
anxiety  which,  under  the  circumstances,  was  but  natural  and  in 
evitable.  At  the  same  time,  his  public  record  was  such  as  to  go 
far  toward  creating  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  ability  to  cope 
with  the  sudden  and  extraordinary  crisis.  No  one  doubted  the 
purity  of  his  intentions,  the  honesty  of  his  convictions,  or  his 
conscientious  purpose  to  make  good  the  loss  sustained  by  the 
country,  and  to  carry  forward  the  policies  advocated  by  his  prede 
cessor. 

Although  some  vague  doubts  were  expressed,  and  men  ques 
tioned  one  another  as  to  whether  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  prove  equal 
to  the  emergency,  there  were  no  signs  of  panic  in  the  world  of 

165 


166  SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT. 

finance,  or  slowing  up  of  the  wheels  of  industry.  With  a  self- 
confidence  which  has  often  been  ridiculed  as  Yankee  boasting,  it 
was  believed  the  country  could  take  care  of  itself,  and  its  new 
chief  executive  would  superbly  meet  every  demand.  Public  opin 
ion  was  soon  enlisted  in  his  support,  the  timid  ones  were  reassured, 
and  the  overwhelming  sorrow  and  sense  of  bereavement  that  fol 
lowed  the  assassination  of  one  President  gradually  gave  way  to  a 
feeling  of  thankfulness  that  another  so  competent  and  trustworthy 
was  now  at  the  head  of  our  national  affairs. 

HOPES  SUDDENLY  BLASTED. 

The  mournful  event  that  placed  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  the  White 
House  was  as  unexpected  by  him  as  it  was  by  the  nation  at  large. 
The  crack  of  the  assassin's  pistol  rang  through  the  whole  world 
with  startling  effect.  No  one  was  prepared  for  the  thrilling 
tragedy.  As  is  well  known,  hopes  were  entertained  for  President 
McKinley's  recovery.  For  a  whole  week  his  condition  was  re 
ported  by  the  attending  physicians  as  perfectly  satisfactory,  and 
there  was  every  indication  that  his  wound  would  not  prove  fatal. 
The  bulletins  expressed  a  hope  that  amounted  almost  to  a  certainty, 
and  stated  only  a  short  time  before  his  death,  that  all  danger  was  past. 
The  bullet  had  not  been  extracted,  but  the  illustrious  patient's 
symptoms  and  general  condition  gave  every  promise  of  complete 
recovery. 

Then  came  the  sudden  change  for  the  worse.  The  ghastly 
reaper  who  strikes  down  rulers  and  peasants  alike,  with  unpitying 
celerity  made  sure  of  his  victim.  Hope  went  out  in  darkness  and 
delusive  promises  were  mercilessly  broken.  The  civilized  world 
felt  the  shock.  It  was  a  time  for  awe  and  silence. 

Hon.  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  sworn  in  as  President  of  the 
United  States  at  3.36  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  Sep 
tember  1 4th.  Standing  in  a  low-ceiled,  narrow  room  in  the  quaint 
old  mansion  occupied  by  Ansley  Wilcox,  in  the  fashionable  part 
of  Delaware  Avenue,  the  aristocratic  thoroughfare  of  Buffalo,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  swore  to  administer  the  laws  of  the  Government  of 
which  he  is  now  the  head.  He  stood  erect,  holding  his  right 


SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT.  167 

hand  high  above  his  head.  His  massive  shoulders  were  thrown 
well  back,  as,  with  his  head  inclined  a  little  forward,  he  repeated 
the  form  of  the  oath  of  office  in  clear,  distinct  tones,  that  fell 
impressively  npon  the  ears  of  the  forty-three  persons  grouped 
about  the  room, 

His  face  was  a  study  in  earnestness  and  determination,  as  he 
uttered  the  words  which  made  him  President  of  the  United  States. 
His  face  was  much  paler  than  it  was  wont  to  be,  and  his  eyes, 
though  bright  and  steady,  gleamed  mistily  through  his  big-bowed 
gold  spectacles.  His  attire  was  sombre  and  modest.  A  well-fit 
ting  worsted  frock  coat  draped  his  athletic  figure  almost  to  the 
knees.  His  trousers  were  dark  gray,  with  pinstripes.  A  thin 
skein  of  golden  chain  looped  from  the  two  lower  pockets  of  his 
waistcoat.  While  he  was  waiting  for  the  ceremony  he  toyed  with 
this  chain  with  his  right  hand. 

PICTURESQUE  LITTLE  ROOM. 

The  place  selected  for  the  ceremony  of  taking  the  oath  was 
the  library  of  Mr.  Wilcox's  house,  a  rather  small  room,  but  pic 
turesque,  the  heavy  oak  trimmings  and  the  massive  bookcases 
giving  it  somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  legal  den.  A  pretty  bay 
window  with  stained  glass  and  heavy  hangings  formed  a  back 
ground,  and  against  this  the  President  took  his  position. 

Judge  Hazel  stood  near  the  President  in  the  bay  window,  and 
the  latter  showed  his  extreme  nervousness  by  plucking  at  the 
lapel  of  his  long  frock  coat  and  nervously  tapping  the  hardwood 
floor  with  his  heel.  He  stepped  over  once  to  Secretary  Root,  and 
for  about  five  minutes  they  conversed  earnestly.  The  question 
at  issue  was  whether  the  President  should  first  sign  an  oath  of 
office  and  then  swear  in  or  whether  he  should  swear  in  first  and 
sign  the  document  in  the  case  after. 

At  precisely  3.32  o'clock  Secretary  Root  ceased  his  conversa 
tion  with  the  President,  and,  stepping  back,  while  an  absolute  hush 
fell  upon  every  one  in  the  room,  said  in  an  almost  inaudible  voice: 

"  Mr.  Vice-President,  I "  Then  his  voice  broke,  and  for 

fully  two  minutes  the  tears  came  down  his  face  and  his  l?.p& 


168  SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT. 

ered,  so  that  lie  could  not  continue  His  utterances.  There  were 
sympathetic  tears  from  those  about  him,  and  two  great  drops  ran 
down  either  cheek  of  the  successor  of  William  McKinley.  Mr. 
Root's  chin  was  on  his  breast.  Suddenly  throwing  back  his  head, 
as  if  with  an  effort,  he  continued  in  broken  voice  : 

"  I  have  been  requested,  on  behalf  of  the  Cabinet  of  the  late 
President,  at  least  those  who  are  present  in  Buffalo,  all  except 
two,  to  request  that  for  reasons  of  weight  affecting  the  affairs  of 
government,  you  should  proceed  to  take  the  constitutional  oath  of 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States." 

Judge  Hazel  had  stepped  to  the  rear  of  the  President,  and 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  coming  closer  to  Secretary  Root,  said,  in  a  voice 
that  at  first  wavered,  but  finally  came  deep  and  strong,  while,  as 
if  to  control  his  nervousness,  he  held  firmly  to  the  lapel  of  his 
coat  with  his  right  hand  : 

M'KINLEY'S  POLICIES  TO  BE  CONTINUED. 

"  I  shall  take  the  oath  at  once  in  accordance  with  your  request, 
and  in  this  hour  of  deep  and  terrible  national  bereavement  I  wish 
to  state  that  it  shall  be  my  aim  to  continue  absolutely  unbroken 
the  policy  of  President  McKinley  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  and 
honor  of  our  beloved  country." 

The  President  stepped  farther  into  the  bay  window,  and 
Judge  Hazel,  taking  up  the  constitutional  oath  of  office,  which  had 
been  prepared  on  parchment,  asked  the  President  to  raise  his  right 
hand  and  repeat  it  after  him.  There  was  a  hush  like  death  in  the 
room  as  the  Judge  read  a  few  words  at  a  time,  and  the  President, 
in  a  strong  voice  and  without  a  tremor,  and  with  his  raised  hand 
as  steady  as  if  carved  from  marble,  repeated  it  after  him. 

"  And  thus  I  swear,"  he  ended  it.  The  hand  dropped  by  his 
side,  the  chin  for  an  instant  rested  on  the  breast,  and  the  silence 
remained  unbroken  for  a  couple  of  minutes,  as  though  the  new 
President  of  the  United  States  was  offering  silent  prayer  for  help 
and  guidance. 

Judge  Hazel  broke  the  silence,  saying:  "  Mr.  President, 
please  attach  your  signature."  And  the  President,  turning  to  a 


SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT.  169 

small  table  near-by,  wrote  "Theodore  Roosevelt"  at  the  bottom 
of  the  document  in  a  firm  hand. 

"  I  should  like  to  see  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  a  few 
moments  after  the  others  retire,"  said  the  President,  and  this  was 
the  signal  for  the  score  of  the  people,  who  had  been  favored  by 
witnessing  the  ceremony,  to  retire. 

As  they  turned  to  go  the  President  said :  UI  will  shake  hands 
with  you  people,  gladly,"  and,  with  something  of  his  old  smile 
returning,  he  first  shook  hands  with  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 
present,  then  Senator  Depew  and  finally  with  a  few  guests  and 
newspaper  men. 

MEMBERS  OF  CABINET  REMAIN. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet  in  the  afternoon,  President 
Roosevelt  requested  that  the  members  retain  their  positions,  at 
least  for  the  present,  and  they  promised  that  they  would  do  so. 
He  also  received  assurances  that  Secretaries  Hay  and  Gage,  who 
were  absent,  would  remain  for  the  time  being.  The  first  official 
act  of  President  Roosevelt  was  the  issuing  of  the  following  proc 
lamation,  the  appropriateness  and  felicitous  expression  of  which 
could  not  be  improved. 

"By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  a  procla 
mation  : 

"A  terrible  bereavement  has  befallen  our  people.  The  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  has  been  struck  down  ;  a  crime  com 
mitted  not  only  against  the  Chief  Magistrate,  but  against  every 
law-abiding  and  liberty-loving  citizen. 

"  President  McKinley  crowned  a  life  of  largest  love  for  his 
fellowmen,  of  most  earnest  endeavor  for  their  welfare,  by  a  death 
of  Christian  fortitude ;  and  both  the  way  in  which  he  lived  his 
life  and  the  way  in  which,  in  the  supreme  hour  of  trial,  he  met 
his  death,  will  remain  forever  a  precious  heritage  of  our  people. 

"  It  is  meet  that  we,  as  a  nation,  express  our  abiding  love  and 
reverence  for  his  life,  our  deep  sorrow  for  his  untimely  death. 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  do  appoint  Thursday  next,  September 


170  SUDDENLY  CALLED  TO  BE  PRESIDENT. 

19,  the  day  in  which  the  body  of  the  dead  President  will  be  laid 
in  its  last  earthly  resting  place,  as  a  day  of  mourning  and  prayer 
throughout  the  United  States.  I  earnestly  recommend  all  the 
people  to  assemble  in  their  respective  places  of  divine  worship, 
there  to  bow  down  in  submission  to  the  will  of  Almighty  God, 
and  to  pay  out  of  full  hearts  their  homage  of  love  and  reverence 
to  the  great  and  good  President,  whose  death  has  smitten  the 
nation  with  bitter  grief. 

"  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  i4th  day  of  September, 
A.  D.,  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  one,  and  of  the  Independ 
ence  of  the  United  States  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-sixth. 

"(SEAL.)  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

"  By  the  President, 

"JOHN  HAY,  Secretary  of  State." 


CHAPTER  XII. 
PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

BEGINNING  OF  His  LIFE  AS  CHIEF  EXECUTIVE — GRAVE  PUBLIC  QUES" 
TIONS — POLICY  OF  MCKINLEY — ASSAULT  MADE  ON  RECIPROC 
ITY —  OPPOSITION  TO  TREATIES — PANAMA  CANAL  —  PACIFIC 
CABLE— His  EXCELLENT  APPOINTMENTS — FACTIONS  IN  ILLINOIS 
— ATTITUDE  ON  TRUSTS — NORTHERN  SECURITIES  CASE — PEN 
SION  ORDER. 

WHEN  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  yet  Vice  President  and  had  no 
thought  that  he  would  succeed  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
nation  through  the  death  of  William  McKinley,  he  said: — u  I  am 
going  to  be  a  candidate  for  President.  I  shall  do  the  very  best  I 
can  to  obtain  that  nomination.  But  if  I  do  not  get  it  I  shall  accept 
the  result  cheerfully,  and  although  it  will  be  a  great  disappoint 
ment  to  me  should  I  fail  to  be  the  candidate  of  my  party,  I  shall 
not  sulk  nor  let  it  embitter  my  life." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  made  this  statement  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Ans- 
ley  Wilcox  at  Buffalo,  in  September,  1901,  when  he  was  packing 
up,  preparing  to  leave  for  the  Adirondacks.  President  McKinley 
had  been  shot  a  few  days  before  and  on  that  day  the  physicians 
had  given  the  opinion  that  he  would  recover.  The  whole  country 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  and  no  one  felt  more  joyful  than  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  The  man  was  supremely  happy  that  the  Presidency 
was  not  going  to  come  to  him  through  the  assassin's  bullet 

"To  become  President  in  this  way,"  he  had  said,  "means 
nothing  to  me.  Aside  from  the  horror  of  having  President  McKin 
ley  die,  there  is  an  additional  horror  in  becoming  his  successor  in 
that  way.  The  thing  that  appeals  to  me  is  to  be  elected  Presi 
dent.  That  is  the  way  I  want  the  honor  to  come,  if  I  am  ever  to 
receive  it." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  went  to  the  Adirondacks.     When  there,  Mr. 

171 


172  PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT  S  ADMINISTRATION. 

McKinley  took  a  sudden  change  for  the  worse  and  died  while  the 
Vice  President  was  on  his  way  back  to  Buffalo  to  take  the  oath 
and  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  office  of  President. 

This  is  to  be  an  account  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Roose 
velt  from  the  middle  of  September,  1901,  to  the  present  time, 
with  some  idea  of  how  his  different  administrative  acts  have 
affected  his  relations  with  the  country  and  the  politicians  and  the 
bearing  these  will  have  upon  his  chances  of  election  on  November  8. 

The  stewardship  of  President  Roosevelt  began  with  that  im 
pressive  scene  in  the  Wilcox  parlor  at  Buffalo  when  he  raised  his 
hand  and  said,  "  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  carry  out  absolutely 
unbroken  the  policy  of  William  McKinley." 

GREAT  QUESTIONS  TO  BE  SETTLED. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  began  his  administration  with  a  session  of 
Congress  only  a  little  more  than  two  months  distant.  Several 
large  questions  were  pressing  on  the  country.  Mr,  McKinley  had 
already  begun  to  handle  them.  One  of  these  was  the  Pan-Ameri 
can  Canal,  Another  was  reciprocity  with  Cuba.  Still  another  was 
the  laying  of  the  Pacific  cable.  Yet  another  was  the  extension  of 
the  American  merchant  marine,  and  finally,  one  considered  by  Mr. 
McKinley  of  the  greatest  importance,  was  a  change  in  our  tariff 
system,  especially  as  it  affected  the  extension  of  our  foreign  com 
merce  so  that  duties  might  be  lowered  and  reciprocal  trade  rela 
tions  established. 

All  these  things  were  touched  upon  by  Mr.  McKinley 
in  his  speech  at  Buffalo,  It  will  be  instructive  to  every 
American  to  occasionally  read  that  speech. 

McKinley  dwelt  at  great  length  on  the  subject  of  reciprocity. 
It  is  evident  that  he  intended  this  speech  as  a  sort  of  first  step  in 
reaching  a  goal  which  even  to  him  did  not  appear  at  that  time  very 
definite.  He  foresaw  the  drooping  of  American  exports.  He  fore 
saw  the  shrinking  of  customs  revenues  from  foreign  imports.  He 
seemed  to  discern  very  quickly  that  the  Dingley  schedules  could 
not  become  permanent  and  that  there  must  be  elasticity  in  our 
schedules  and  that  the  high  tariff  must  be  lowered. 


PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  S  ADMINISTRATION.  173 

But  he  was  not  very  clear  as  to  the  method  he  would  follow. 
He  was  very  certain  that  the  day  of  exclusiveness  was  past.  He 
made  that  statement  without  any  qualification.  But  he  also  still 
adhered  to  the  thought  that  we  must  have  protection  for  those 
things  that  we  produce  in  competition  with  other  countries,  and 
at  the  same  time  declared  that  there  might  safely  be  on  some 
articles  of  production  a  reduction  in  customs  duties. 

The  very  obstacle  which  President  Roosevelt  encountered  in 
carrying  out  the  policy  of  William  McKinley  came  from  the  high 
protective  tariff  men — from  the  "stand  patters,"  who  would  let 
well  enough  alone. 

ASSAULT   ON   RECIPROCITY. 

The  assault  was  first  made  on  reciprocity.  A  number  of  these 
treaties  were  pending  in  the  Senate.  Mr.  McKinley  and  John 
Hay  had  appointed  John  A.  Kasson  a  commissioner  to  negotiate 
these  treaties.  They  were  with  France,  with  Argentina,  with 
a  number  of  the  British  colonies,  in  all  seven  or  eight  of 
them.  The  Senate  refused  to  ratify  the  treaties.  Mr.  McKinley, 
and  Mr,  Hay  had  both  despaired  of  getting  them  through  the 
Senate,  and  Mr.  Kasson  had  refused  to  accept  any  salary  from  the 
United  States  because  his  work  could  not  be  ratified  in  the  Senate. 

The  protectionists  swooped  down  on  the  new  President  in  a 
desperate  effort  to  bury  the  treaties,  which  were  conceded  to  be 
already  dead.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the  very  first  work  of  his  adminis 
tration,  declared  that  he  was  going  to  do  everything  he  could  to 
have  the  treaties  ratified,  but  he  even  at  that  early  day  was  be 
ginning  to  see  the  hopelessness  of  the  task  of  standing  up  against 
the  solid  phalanx  of  the  Senate,  In  the  end  the  reciprocity  trea 
ties  were  dropped,  with  the  exception  of  that  which  gave  Cuba  a 
reduction  in  duties  on  her  products  in  return  for  a  similar  reduc 
tion  on  American  products. 

The  first  great  contest  the  President  had  crystallized  around 
the  Cuban  treaty.  There  was  no  question  that  the  United  States 
was  in  honor  bound  to  ratify  this  treaty.  President  McKinley 
was  committed  to  it.  So  were  Secretary  of  War  Root,  Secretary  of 


174  PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT  S  ADMINISTRATION. 

State  Hay,  Senators  Lodge,  Platt  (of  Connecticut),  Aldrich,  Allison, 
Spooner,  and  in  fact,  all  the  so  called  leaders  of  the  Senate.  The 
President's  fight  for  Cuba  lasted  through  the  entire  session  of 
1901-02,  necessitating  the  calling  of  an  extra  session  in  November, 
1903,  and  was  not  finally  won  until  the  regular  session  had  begun 
the  following  December. 

The  President  never  swerved  in  his  efforts  to  obtain  an 
isthmian  canal.  The  platform  on  which  McKinley  and  Roosevelt 
were  elected  declared  for  the  construction  of  a  canal  via  the  Isth 
mus  of  Panama,  and  did  not  indorse  the  Nicaragua  route.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  before  he  had  been  in  office  many  months  was  convinced 
that  either  route  was  feasible.  He  made  a  speech  at  a  private 
dinner  in  which  he  said  that  he  would  sooner  have  a  canal  by 
either  route  than  no  canal  at  all. 

CANAL  MUST  BE  CONSTRUCTED. 

The  selection  of  the  Panama  route  was  made  by  Congress, 
but  the  bill  which  provided  for  it  contained  an  alternative  prop 
osition  that  if  certain  conditions  could  not  be  complied  with  the 
government  should  build  the  canal  via  Nicaragua. 

The  whole  question  of  the  choice  of  routes  seemed  to  depend 
upon  the  ratification  of  Colombia  by  a  treaty.  The  Colombians 
refused  to  ratify  that  treaty,  although  they  were  repeatedly 
warned  that  if  they  did  not  do  so  serious  consequences  were 
likely  to  ensue.  President  Roosevelt  was  determined  that  no 
South  American  Republic  should  stand  in  the  way  of  manifest 
destiny,  and  he  was  equally  determined  that  the  canal  should  be 
begun  during  his  administration,  and  if  possible  before  the  Re 
publican  National  Convention  met. 

Then  came  the  revolution  in  Panama.  It  was  "  capitalized" 
by  persons  who  had  an  interest  in  disposing  of  the  franchises  and 
property  of  the  new  Panama  Canal  Company  to  the  United  States 
for  $40,000,000,  and  a  new  government  was  proclaimed  on  it. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  every  person  on  the  isthmus 
favored  the  movement. 

It  has  been  charged  that  President  Roosevelt  connived  at  this 


PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT'S  ADMINISTRATION.  175 

revolution.  It  is  certain  that  this  government  had  given  the 
government  of  Colombia  ample  warning  that  something  might 
occur.  It  is  also  true  that  Senator  Cullom,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  after  an  interview  with  the 
President  at  Oyster  Bay  last  year,  said  : — "  If  we  do  not  get  a 
canal  treaty  with  Colombia  we  may  be  able  to  make  one  with 
Panama." 

Be  that  as  it  may,  Panama  declared  her  independence.  She 
was  recognized  as  an  independent  republic  by  the  United  States 
in  about  three  days.  Then  the  treaty  empowering  the  United 
States  to  keep  open  the  isthmus  pathway  was  invoked.  United 
States  men-of-war  prevented  the  landing  of  Colombian  troops  and 
by  a  show  offeree  prevented  Colombia  from  reconquering  the  re 
volting  province. 

THE  PRESIDENT  JUSTIFIED. 

The  j  ustification  of  the  President  by  his  spokesmen  for  this 
action  is  the  frank  assertion  that  Colombia  had  never  acted  in 
faith  with  us,  was  endeavoring  to  use  the  methods  of  an  interna 
tional  brigand,  and  that  the  United  States  was  acting  clearly  in 
the  interests  of  the  whole  world  in  seizing  this  opportunity  to 
obtain  the  canal. 

In  the  matter  of  a  Pacific  cable,  President  Roosevelt's  admin 
istration  carried  out  the  policy  of  President  McKinley,  and  San 
Francisco  is  now  connected  by  an  all-American  line  with  the 
Philippines,  and  is  soon  to  be  connected  with  China  and  Japan. 

But  in  the  plan  of  McKinley  to  obtain  subsidy  for  a  merchant 
marine,  no  headway  whatever  has  been  made.  The  principal  ad 
vocate  of  that  measure,  Senator  Hanna,  is  dead.  A  commission 
has  been  appointed  to  make  exhaustive  inquiry,  and  the  subject 
will  undoubtedly  come  up  in  the  next  Congress,  because  a  ship 
subsidy  is  indorsed  by  the  Republican  national  platform. 

So  much  for  the  principal  points  in  the  policy  of  President 
McKinley,  as  enumerated  in  his  last  speech.  It  becomes  neces 
sary  to  consider  the  actions  of  the  President  aside  from  those  mat 
ters  which  bear  directly  on  McKinley' s  policy. 


176  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT S  ADMINISTRATION. 

In  many  respects  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  mapped  out  a  policy  of 
his  own.  He  entered  the  White  House  as  a  leading  exponent  in 
the  United  States  of  high  principles  in  politics.  It  was  to  be 
assumed  that  President  Roosevelt,  in  making  appointments, 
would  endeavor  to  obtain  the  very  highest  type  and  only  consider 
moral  rectitude  and  mental  capacity.  It  was  to  be  assumed  that 
he  would  also  hold  himself  strictly  within  the  law. 

The  first  serious  problem  which  confronted  the  President  was 
the  appointment  of  Federal  officers  in  New  York.  The  terms  of 
Collector  Bi  dwell  and  Wilbur  F.  Wakeman  were  about  to  expire. 
Mr.  Bidwell  was  warmly  supported  by  Senator  Platt  for  reappoint- 
ment.  Mr.  Wakeman's  dismissal  from  the  service  was  desired  by 
Senator  Platt.  Against  Mr.  Bidwell  charges  had  been  filed.  Mr. 
Wakeman  had  also  been  charged  with  being  a  mischief  maker  and 
with  enforcing  the  law  too  strictly. 

EXTENSIVE  FRATTDS  EXPOSED. 

But  he  had  rendered  a  peculiar  Rooseveltian  service  in  expos 
ing  the  most  extensive  frauds  in  the  customs  known  for  genera 
tions  against  the  united  opposition  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
including  Mr.  Bidwell.  The  President  decided  that  Wakeman 
should  be  sacrificed  as  well  as  Bidwell,  and  the  change  was  made. 

The  President  appointed  James  S.  Clarkson,  who  was  regarded 
as  a  spoilsman  when  he  was  Assistant  Postmaster  General  under 
President  Harrison,  to  the  position  of  Surveyor  of  the  Port,  He 
made  Mr,  Clarkson  his  confidential  adviser  as  to  the  use  of  pat 
ronage  in  the  South  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  down  opposition 
to  him  there  and  obtaining  Southern  delegates. 

When  the  exposures  of  abuse  in  the  Post  Office  Department 
intimated  that  not  only  was  Postmaster  Van  Cott  incompetent,  but 
that  Richard  Van  Cott,  the  Postmaster's  son,  had  frequently  as 
sumed  the  functions  of  Postmaster,  and  had  been  very  close  to 
George  W.  Beavers,  the  President  yielded  to  Senator  Platt  and 
kept  Van  Cott  in  office.  He  merely  required  the  resignation  of 
Richard  Van  Cott. 

When  a  great  fight  arose  in  the  city  of  Chicago  between  the 


PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT  S  ADMINISTRATION.  177 

faction  headed  by  Senators  Hopkins  and  Cullom  and  Representa 
tive  Lorimer  and  that  headed  by  Charles  S.  Deneen  the  President 
permitted  the  Federal  patronage  to  be  used  to  strengthen  the  ma 
chine.  A  year  before  in  a  similar  fight  he  had  ordered  "  hands 
off ;  "  now  he  changed. 

This  patronage  was  used  directly  to  crush  Mr.  Deneen,  who 
was  an  independent  Republican  and  who  had  made  a  great  record 
as  State's  Attorney  for  Cook  county. 

The  widely  known  "Doc"  Jamison,  was  appointed  Collector 
of  the  Port  of  Chicago  at  the  request  of  the  "  Federal  crowd."  It 
roused  great  public  indignation  in  Chicago,  and  the  result  was 
that  a  revolt  was  started  against  Jamison  in  his  own  ward  which 

<-?  %/ 

defeated  him  as  a  candidate  for  Alderman,  defeated  him  as  a  dele 
gate  to  the  State  Convention  and  left  him  absolutely  without  any 
local  following. 

STANDARD  OF  OFFICIALS  RAISED. 

Independents  and  reformers  freely  admit  that  generally  the 
efforts  of  the  President  have  tended  to  raise  the  standard  of  men 
in  office.  But  scattered  all  over  the  country  here  and  there  are 
cases  like  those  of  Jamison  in  Chicago  and  Van  Cott  in  New 
York. 

The  President's  attitude  on  trusts  '  was  the  subject  of  wide 
discussion  during  the  campaign.  This  is  a  subject  to  which  Mr. 
Roosevelt  early  gave  attention. 

As  Governor  of  New  York  he  shocked  Senator  Platt,  B.  B. 
Odell,  Jr.,  and  the  late  Charles  W.  Hackett  by  insisting  on  writ 
ing  a  message  in  which  he  brought  to  the  very  forefront  the  dis 
cussion  of  the  overcapitalization  of  corporations  and  the  amalga 
mation  of  other  corporations  for  the  purpose  of  cheapening  pro 
duction  and  raising  prices.  He  followed  this  up  as  a  candidate 
for  Vice  President  in  his  letter  of  acceptance  and  in  a  speech  de 
livered  at  Minneapolis  after  he  was  elected  Vice  President. 

When  he  succeeded  to  the  Presidency  he  began  to  devote  his 
attention  to  this  subject.     If  this  was  a  part  of  the  policy  of  Wil 
liam  McKinley,  William  McKinley  had  never  disclosed  it.     The 
12— M.L. 


178  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT S  ADMINISTRATION. 

question  of  the  regulation  of  trusts,  however,  had  figured  con 
spicuously  in  the  platform  of  1900. 

President  Roosevelt  in  his  first  message  made  strong  recom 
mendations  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  a  scheme  to  compel  corpor 
ations  doing  an  interstate  commerce  business  to  make  public 
statements  of  their  internal  affairs,  so  that  the  public  when  invest 
ing  could  be  advised  as  to  how  much  stock  was  water,  how  much 
the  fixed  charges  were  and  whether  dividends  would  ever  be  paid, 
He  was  also  in  favor  of  a  law  which  would  require  their  regulation 
by  Congress  in  addition  to  that  imposed  by  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  law. 

At  that  time  the  general  opinion  of  lawyers  was  that  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  law  was  unconstitutional,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  if  the  Sherman  law  was  unconstitutional 
we  ought  to  have  an  amendment  to  the  constitution. 

STANDING  "PAT"  ON  THE  TRUSTS. 

The  President's  advisers  in  Congress  were  unanimous  almost 
in  favor  of  doing  nothing  about  the  Crusts.  They  wanted  to 
"stand  pat"  on  the  trusts  as  well  as  on  the  tariff.  The  President 
kept  at  it.  The  longer  the  President  insisted  the  stronger  the 
opposition  became.  Finally  an  opportunity  for  action  came  which 
was  to  demonstrate  the  effectiveness  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
law,  and  have  a  great  bearing  on  the  trust  policy  in  Congress. 

Attorney-General  Knox  began  injunction  proceedings  against 
the  Beef  Trust.  The  injunction  was  sustained,  and  the  Beef 
Trust  was,  theoretically  at  least  "put  out  of  business." 

Then  the  President  ordered  Mr.  Kuox  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
against  the  Northern  Securities  Company.  Judge  Thayer  and 
subsequently  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  took  an  advanced 
view  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  law,  and  wrote  a  new  page  in 
legal  history.  With  these  decisions  passed  any  necessity  for  any 
further  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  law.  Then  came 
a  compromise  of  the  President  with  the  trusts. 

This  compromise  consisted  in  a  definite  abandonment  of  the 
essential  principles  of  the  President's  publicity  programme.  He 


PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT'S  ADMINISTRATION.  179 

consented  to  have  that  feature  of  his  great  propaganda  covered 
in  a  paragraph  inserted  in  the  bill  creating  the  new  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  which  erected  a  Bureau  of  Corporations  that 
would  have  power  to  examine  into  all  questions  relating  to  cor 
porations  in  this  country. 

The  only  purpose  of  this  new  bureau  was  to  collect  data  for 
the  information  of  the  President,  which  could  be  made  public  or 
not  at  the  option  of  the  President,  and  which  should  be  used  by 
him  in  making  recommendations  to  Congress  for  future  legisla 
tion.  Another  part  of  the  trust  programme  was  a  bill  to  expedite 
suits  such  as  the  Northern  Securities  merger,  so  an  early  decision 
could  be  obtained  in  the  Supreme  Court. 

INTERSTATE  COMMERCE  LAW. 

Still  another  phase  of  it  was  an  amendment  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  law,  by  which  railroad  officials  were  relieved  of  all 
criminal  prosecution  for  giving  rebates  and  permitting  secret  rates 
to  favored  shippers. 

Undoubtedly  the  President's  position  on  the  trust  question 
has  aroused  deep  resentment  for  him  on  the  part  of  many  great 
capitalists  of  the  country,  so  the  things  he  has  done  must  have 
hurt  their  feelings.  The  great  banks  of  the  country  have  become 
very  much  interested  in  the  exploitation  of  industrial  corporations. 
Indeed,  it  might  be  said  that  the  organizers  of  these  great  trusts 
dominate  the  money  market. 

These  banks  have  their  ramifications  all  over  the  country, 
and  it  was  expected  that  in  the  campaign  every  small  banker  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  would  be  either  indifferent  toward  the 
election  of  President  Roosevelt  or  openly  hostile. 

President  Roosevelt  shocked  a  great  many  thoughtful  persons 
when  he  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  issue  the 
famous  pension  order.  It  is  charged  that  the  President  in  doing 
this  usurped  the  power  of  Congress  and  took  the  position  that  he 
was  law  and  government  of  himself. 

The  President  was  very  anxious  to  please  the  Grand  Army 
veterans.  They  have  been  a  constant  source  of  danger  to  the 


PRESIDENT   ROOSEVELT'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


Republican  party,  because  their  entire  incentive  to  organization 
is  a  large  pension  for  every  man  who  fought  for  his  country  during 
the  Civil  War.  The  Grand  Army  had  insisted  on  the  dismissal 
from  service  of  H.  Clay  Evans,  of  Tennessee,  who  has -the  record 
of  being  one  of  the. best  Commissioners  of  Pensions  that  ever 
served  under  a  Republican  administration. 

President  Roosevelt  finally  consented  to  accept  Mr.  Evans' 


PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  AND  HIS  isON  THEODORE,  JR. 

resignation,  but  he  gave  him  the  position  of  Consul  General  at 
London,  where  his  income  was  several  times  what  it  was  in 
Washington, 

The  Grand  Army  went  to  Washington  to  demand  a  service 
pension.  A  bill  was  drawn  which  would  give  every  survivor  of 
the  Civil  War  who  had  reached  the  age  of  sixty-two  years,  whether 
he  was  wholly  or  partially  disabled  or  not  disabled  at  all,  a  service 


PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT'S  ADMINISTRATION.  181 

pension.  This  would  have  cost  the  Government  twenty  or  thirty 
million  dollars  a  year.  Some  estimates  have  placed  it  as  high  as 
fifty  million  dollars  a  year.  The  leaders  in  Congress  created  a 
situation  which  made  them  declare  that  they  could  not  pass  the 
service  pension  bill.  Someone  in  Washington  conceived  the  idea 
of  a  service  pension  by  executive  order. 

It  was  recalled  that  President  Cleveland  had  issued  an  order 
which  gave  a  service  pension  to  all  the  surviving  veterans 
of  the  Mexican  War.  The  assumption  was  that  the  law  gave 
the  commissioners  of  pensions  authority  to  assume  that  when  a 
veteran  had  reached  the  age  of  sixty-two  years  he  was  partially 
disabled.  The  executive  order  recognized  age  as  disability,  and 
the  Mexican  War  veterans  got  pensions  without  examination. 

President  Roosevelt's  service  pension  order  followed  the 
lines  of  President  Cleveland's.  There  was  no  question  in  any  of 
the  explanations  as  to  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong  to  thus  take 
money  out  of  the  public  treasury  while  a  bill  was  pending  in 
Congress.  The  whole  consideration  seemed  to  be  that  if  Cleve 
land  had  done  it  Roosevelt  could  do  it.  And  if  Roosevelt  didn't 
do  it  Congress  could  be  forced  to  pass  a  bill  which  would  cost  the 
treasury  a  much  larger  sum. 

This  incident  was  used  during  the  campaign  to  strengthen 
the  Democratic  armament  that  Roosevelt  is  an  "impulsive, 
dangerous  man,"  and  the  "  living  embodiment  of  one  man 
power." 

But  his  friends  triumphantly  ask  what  he  has  done  to  give 
him  this  reputation,  and  claim  that  he  has  acted  all  along  in  such 
a  wise  and  conservative  way  that  the  country  takes  no  stock  in 
the  "impulse"  outcry. 

Taking  President  Roosevelt's  administration  from  first  to 
last,  it  is  claimed  by  his  party  that  he  ranks  with  the  greatest 
Presidents  our  country  has  ever  had. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
ROOSEVELT  TRIUMPHANTLY   ELECTED. 

THE  ROOSEVELT  ADMINISTRATION — CONSPICUOUS  ACTS — NOT 
ABLE  ACHIEVEMENTS — A  QUIET  CAMPAIGN — THE  MINDS  OF 
VOTERS  MADE  UP — ROOSEVELT  ELECTED  BY  AN  OVER 
WHELMING  MAJORITY — GREAT  TIDAL  WAVE — SPLENDID 
TRIBUTE  TO  THE  MAN  HIMSELF — VISIT  TO  ST.  Louis. 

TN  his  masterly  speech  at  the  National  Republican  Convention 
*  in  Chicago,  Hon.  Elihu  Root  summed  up  in  a  few  words  the 
achievements  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  administration  of  three  years  and 
a  half,  following  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley.  Words 
of  glowing  eulogy  were  spoken  in  that  Convention,  but  these  were 
tame  and  empty  compared  with  the  conspicuous  deeds  by  which 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  administration  was  distinguished.  There  was 
unanimous  agreement  with  Mr.  Root's  statement  of  what  had  been 
accomplished  under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  the  President,  and 
there  was  no  disposition  to  belittle  the  acts  upon  which  the 
government  based  its  claim  for  the  continued  confidence  of  the 
people. 

Mr.  Root  declared  :  "  The  present  administration  has  reduced 
taxation,  reduced  the  public  debt,  reduced  the  annual  interest 
charge,  made  effective  progress  in  the  regulation  of  trusts,  fostered 
business,  promoted  agriculture,  built  up  the  navy,  reorganized  the 
army,  resurrected  the  military  system,  inaugurated  a  new  policy 
for  the  preservation  and  reclamation  of  public  lands,  given  civil 
government  to  the  Philippines,  established  the  Republic  of  Cuba, 
bound  it  to  us  by  ties  of  gratitude,  of  commercial  interest  and  of 
common  defence,  swung  open  the  closed  gateway  of  the  Isthmus, 
strengthened  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  ended  the  Alaska  boundary 
dispute,  protected  the  integrity  of  China,  opened  wider  its  doors  of 
182 


KOOSEVELT  TRIUMPHANTLY  ELECTED.  185 

trade,  advanced  the  principle  of  arbitration  and  promoted  peact 
among  the  nations. 

"  We  challenge  judgment  upon  this  record  of  effective  per 
formance  in  legislation,  in  execution  and  in  administration." 

The  great  Republican  party  felt  that  this  was  a  truthful  esti 
mate  of  what  had  been  accomplished,  and  justly  claimed  the  ar> 
proval  of  all  classes  of  our  citizens. 

This  approval  was  evident  from  the  very  beginning  of  the 
campaign.  There  was  little  need  of  discussion.  Like  granite 
pillars  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation  stood  the  acts  by  which  the 
government  at  Washington  was  to  be  judged.  The  country  had 
been  well  informed  as  to  the  current  of  Federal  legislation. 

EFFORTS  TO  INFLUENCE  VOTERS. 

There  was,  therefore,  little  to  do  in  the  campaign  except  foi 
the  party  leaders  to  hold  their  voters  in  line  and  fire  them  with 
sufficient  enthusiasm  to  bring  them  to  the  polls  on  election  day. 
However,  the  usual  campaign  methods  were  resorted  to  and  vigor 
ous  attempts  were  made  to  influence  voters.  In  the  newspaper 
press  and  on  the  public  platform,  the  issues  of  the  contest  were 
thoroughly  discussed.  More  and  more  it  became  evident  that, 
without  any  help,  the  voters  had  made  up  their  minds,  and  only 
awaited  the  day  when  they  would  give  formal  expression  to  their 
views  at  the  ballot  box. 

This  was  so  manifest,  that  ex-Governor  Black  said,  in  placing 
Mr.  Roosevelt  in  nomination  :  "  We  are  here  to  inaugurate  a  cam 
paign  which  seems  already  to  be  nearly  closed.  So  wisely  have 
the  people  sowed  and  watched  and  tended  there  seems  little  now 
to  do  but  to  measure  up  the  grain.  They  are  ranging  themselves 
not  for  battle,  but  for  harvest.  In  one  column  reaching  from  the 
Maine  woods  to  the  Puget  Sound  are  those  people  and  those  States 
which  have  stood  so  long  together,  that  when  great  emergencies 
arise  the  nation  turns  instinctively  to  them.  In  this  column,  vast 
and  solid,  is  a  majority  so  overwhelming  that  the  scattered  squads 
in  opposition  can  hardly  raise  another  army." 

This  statement  was  no  exaggeration,  which  was  proved  by  th« 


184  ROOSEVELT  TRIUMPHANTLY  ELECTED. 

election  of  the  Republican  candidates  by  overwhelming  majorities. 
The  next  morning  after  the  election  a  prominent  journal  com 
mented  as  follows  : 

u  It  is  a  stupendous  and  overwhelming  victory.  There  has 
been  nothing  like  its  extraordinary  and  magnificent  proportions 
since  the  Grant  whirlwind  over  Greeley  in  1872,  and  the  popular 
majorities  are  far  greater  even  than  then.  President  Roosevelt 
carries  every  Northern  State.  He  gains  everywhere  over  even  1900 
and  1896. 

"  On  this  great  tidal  wave  all  the  lesser  objects  are  floated  in. 
Congress  is  only  second  in  importance,  and  it  will  show  the  largest 
Republican  majority  for  many  years.  The  Republican  Governor 
in  New  York,  bitterly  fought,  is  triumphantly  successful.  In 
many  States  smaller  doubts  are  turned  into  certainties.  It  is  one 
vast  oceanic  sweep. 

MAGNIFICENT  TRIBUTE  TO  ROOSEVELT. 

"  The  result  is  a  splendid  national  tribute  to  President  Roose 
velt.  It  shows  the  unequal ed  place  he  holds  in  the  affection,  the 
admiration  and  the  faith  of  the  American  people.  It  is  in  large 
measure  his  triumph.  The  principles,  policies,  aims  and  methods 
were  those  of  his  party  and  as  broad  as  the  nation ;  but  he  has 
impressed  his  puissant  individuality  on  them  as  only  the  rare 
towering  figures  of  our  history  have  done.  He  is  stronger  than 
party  and  greater  than  organization.  The  arrows  of  venom  hurtled 
about  him  and  fell  harmless  at  his  feet. 

"  His  characteristics,  exaggerated  and  distorted,  were  made 
the  target ;  he  was  treated  as  the  chief  issue  ;  he  was  called  impul 
sive  and  unsafe  and  imperialistic  ;  but  his  brilliant  and  fascinating 
personality,  his  vigor,  his  purity,  his  honesty,  his  courage  swept 
down  all  puny  opposition  and  carried  everything  before  him. 
This  unmatched  triumph  makes  him  the  most  powerful  figure  of 
recent  history.  It  arms  him  with  Olympian  strength,  but  it  im 
poses  corresponding  responsibility.  He  has  risen  to  every  occasion 
and  every  duty.  He  has  the  sure  token  of  the  past  as  the  talisman 
of  the  future. 


ROOSEVELT  TRIUMPHANTLY  ELECTED.  185 

"  But  it  is  far  more  than  a  personal  victory  in  its  national 
assurance.  The  glory  of  this  American  judgment  is  its  American 
aspiration.  It  means  that  our  great  Republic  will  march  on.  It 
maintains  our  protective  policy  with  its  industrial  prosperity.  It 
fixes  the  gold  standard  with  its  business  and  financial  security. 
It  continues  our  brilliant  and  successful  foreign  policy,  with  its 
world-wide  influence,  its  peaceful  potentiality  and  its  commercial 
opportunities. 

"  It  stamps  out  the  narrow  and  pusillanimous  spirit  which 
would  dishonor  us  with  American  perfidy  and  desertion  in  the 
Philippines.  It  leaves  America  in  the  hands  of  the  big  Americans 
instead  of  turning  it  over  to  the  little  Americans.  From  this 
exultant  day  we  can  take  new  heart  of  hope. 

"  The  President  chooses  the  moment  of  his  greatest  triumph 
to  announce  that  he  will  not  be  a  candidate  for  another  term. 

NOT  A  CANDIDATE  AGAIN. 

"  He  is  eligible  even  under  the  accepted  unwritten  law.  He 
is  only  filling  an  unexpired  term.  This  is  his  first  election  as 
President.  It  would  not  have  been  strange  if  he  had  aspired  to  a 
second.  He  might  have  remained  silent.  He  chooses  to  speak 
and  settle  the  question." 

President  Roosevelt  made  his  first  public  appearance  after 
the  election  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  went  to  attend  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition.  The  officials  of  the  Fair  gave  him  an  urgent 
invitation  to  visit  the  Exposition,  and,  in  company  with  members 
of  his  family  and  several  friends,  he  arrived  in  St.  Louis  on 
November  26th.  All  along  his  route  from  Washington  crowds  of 
people  awaited  the  arrival  of  his  train  and  received  him  with  loud 
cheers. 

In  St.  Louis  vast  multitudes  greeted  him  with  every  demon 
stration  of  respect,  admiration  and  affection.  His  progress  from 
one  building  to  another  was  a  continuous  ovation,  and  his  visit,  so 
far  as  notables  were  in  evidence,  was  the  great  feature  of  the  Fair. 

Presents  of  all  sorts  and  descriptions  were  thrust  upon  him, 
and  these  could  be  measured  only  by  the  wagon  load. 


186  ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

In  the  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  including  re 
presentatives  from  every  State  in  the  Union,  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
on  the  fourth  of  March,  1905,  took  the  oath  of  office  and  was 
inaugurated  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Charles  Warren 
Fairbanks  took  the  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President. 

Washington  was  crowded  to  overflowing  with  strangers,  drawn 
to  the  Capital  to  view  the  inaugural  ceremonies. 

Through  the  lines  formed  by  cheering,  waving  thousands, 
between  the  men  and  women  who  shouted  themselves  hoarse  out  of 
pure  delight,  the  President  drove  the  whole  length  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  and,  turning  to  the  left,  entered  the  Capitol  grounds,  where, 
on  the  east  front,  was  the  stand  from  which  he  was  to  deliver  his 
inaugural  address,  and  surrounding  it  on  all  sides  were  the  people 
wedged  in  so  tightly  that  the  place  was  black,  and  only  the  tops 
of  their  heads  could  be  seen. 

Within  the  Senate  chamber  Vice-President  Fairbanks  took 
the  oath  of  office  and  gave  a  brief  address.  The  new  Senators  were 
summoned  forward  in  groups  of  four  to  take  the  oath  of  office. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  TAKES  THE  OATH. 

At  one  o'clock,  on  the  open  platform  outside,  Chief  Justice 
Fuller  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  follows  : 

"  I  do  faithfully  swear  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office 
of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  best  of  my  ability  pro 
tect,  preserve  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

As  the  Chief  Justice  repeated  these  words,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
stood  with  uplifted  hand.  "  I  do,"  was  his  response,  uttered  in 
loud,  clear  tones.  Then  he  reverently  bowed  his  head  and  kissed 
the  Bible. 

The  inaugural  address  proved  to  be  one  of  the  shortest  on 
record.  Mr.  Roosevelt  delivered  it,  as  he  delivers  all  his  public 
speeches,  with  great  earnestness  of  manner. 

In  the  course  of  his  address  Mr.  Roosevelt  said : 

"  My  Fellow  Citizens  :  No  people  on  earth  have  more  cause  to 
be  thankful  than  ours,  and  this  is  said  reverently,  in  no  spirit  of 
boastfulness  in  our  own  strength,  but  with  gratitude  to  the  Giver 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  187 

of  Good,  who  Has  blessed  us  with  the  conditions  which  have  enabled 
us  to  achieve  so  large  a  measure  of  well  being  and  of  happiness. 
To  us  as  a  people  it  has  been  granted  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
our  national  life  in  a  new  continent.  We  are  the  heirs  of  the 
ages,  and  yet  we  have  had  to  pay  few  of  the  penalties  which  in  old 
countries  are  exacted  by  the  dead  hand  of  a  bygone  civilization. 

We  have  not  been  obliged  to  fight  for  our  existence  against 
any  alien  race ;  and  yet  our  life  has  called  for  the  vigor  and  effort 
without  which  the  manlier  and  hardier  virtues  wither  away.  Under 
such  conditions  it  would  be  our  own  fault  if  we  failed ;  and  the 
success  which  we  have  had  in  the  past,  the  success  which  we  confi 
dently  believe  the  future  will  bring,  should  cause  in  us  no  feeling 
of  vainglory,  but  rather  a  deep  and  abiding  realization  of  all  which 
life  has  offered  us ;  a  full  acknowledgment  of  the  responsibility 
which  is  ours  ;  and  a  fixed  determination  to  show  that  under  a  free 
government  a  mighty  people  can  thrive  best,  alike  as  regards  the 
things  of  the  body  and  things  of  the  soul. 

NATIONAL  RESPONSIBILITIES. 

"  Much  has  been  given  to  us  and  much  will  rightfully  be  ex 
pected  from  us.  We  have  duties  to  others  and  duties  to  ourselves ; 
and  we  can  shirk  neither.  We  have  become  a  great  nation,  forced 
by  the  fact  of  its  greatness  into  relations  with  the  other  nations  of 
the  earth,  and  we  must  behave  as  beseems  a  people  with  such  re 
sponsibilities.  Toward  all  other  nations,  large  and  small,  our  atti 
tude  must  be  one  of  cordial  and  sincere  friendship.  We  must 
show  not  only  in  our  words  but  in  our  deeds  that  we  are  earnestly 
desirous  of  securing  their  good  will  by  acting  toward  them  in  a 
spirit  of  just  and  generous  recognition  of  all  their  rights. 

lf  But  justice  and  generosity  in  a  nation,  as  in  an  individual, 
count  most  when  shown  not  by  the  weak,  but  by  the  strong.  While 
ever  careful  to  refrain  from  wronging  others,  we  must  be  no  less 
insistent  that  we  are  not  wronged  ourselves.  We  wish  peace ;  but 
we  wish  the  peace  of  justice,  the  peace  of  righteousness.  We 
wish  it  because  we  think  it  is  right  and  not  because  we  are  afraid. 
No  weak  nation  that  acts  manfully  and  justly  should  ever  have 


188  ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

cause  to  fear  us,  and  no  strong  power  should  ever  be  able  to  single 
us  out  as  a  subject  for  insolent  aggression. 

"  Our  relations  with  the  other  powers  of  the  world  are  im 
portant;  but  still  more  important  are  our  relations  among  our 
selves.  Such  growth  in  wealth,  in  population  and  in  power  as  this 
nation  has  seen  during  the  century  and  a  quarter  of  its  national 
life  is  inevitably  accompanied  by  a  like  growth  in  the  problems 
which  are  ever  before  every  nation  that  rises  to  greatness.  Power 
inevitably  means  both  responsibility  and  danger.  Our  forefathers 
faced  certain  perils  which  we  have  outgrown.  We  now  face  other 
perils  the  very  existence  of  which  it  was  impossible  that  they  could 

foresee. 

GREAT  PROBLEMS  TO  BE  SOLVED. 

"  Modern  life  is  both  complex  and  intense,  and  the  tremen 
dous  changes  wrought  by  the  extraordinary  industrial  development 
of  the  last  half  century  are  felt  in  every  fibre  of  our  social  and 
political  being.  Never  before  have  men  tried  so  vast  and  formid 
able  an  experiment  as  that  of  administering  the  affairs  of  a  con 
tinent  under  the  forms  of  a  democratic  republic.  The  conditions 
which  have  told  for  our  marvelous  material  well  being,  which  have 
developed  to  a  very  high  degree  our  energy,  self-reliance  and  indi 
vidual  initiative,  have  also  brought  the  care  and  anxiety  insepar 
able  from  the  accumulation  of  great  wealth  in  industrial  centers. 
Upon  the  success  of  our  experiment  much  depends ;  not  only  as 
regards  our  own  welfare,  but  as  regards  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

"  If  we  fail,  the  cause  of  free  self-government  throughout  the 
world  will  rock  to  its  foundations  ;  and,  therefore,  our  responsibility 
is  heavy — to  our  selves,  to  the  world  as  it  is  to-day  and  to  the 
generations  yet  unborn.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should 
fear  the  future,  but  there  is  every  reason  why  we  should  face  it 
seriously,  neither  hiding  from  ourselves  the  gravity  of  the  problems 
before  us  nor  fearing  to  approach  these  problems  with  the  unbend 
ing,  unflinching  purpose  to  solve  them  right. 

"  Yet,  after  all,  though  the  problems  are  new,  though  the  tasks 
set  before  us  differ  from  the  tasks  set  before  our  fathers,  the  spirit 
in  which  these  tasks  must  be  undertaken  and  these  problems  faced, 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  189 

if  our  duty  is  to  be  well  done,  remains  essentially  unchanged.  We 
know  that  self-government  is  difficult.  We  know  that  no  people 
needs  such  high  traits  of  character  as  that  people  which  seeks 
to  govern  its  affairs  aright  through  the  freely  expressed  will  of 
the  freemen  who  compose  it. 

"  But  we  have  faith  that  we  shall  not  prove  false  to  the  me 
mories  of  the  men  of  the  mighty  past.  They  did  their  work ;  they 
left  us  the  splendid  heritage  we  now  enjoy.  We  in  our  turn  have 
an  assured  confidence  that  we  shall  be  able  to  leave  this  heritage 
unwasted  and  enlarged  to  our  children  and  our  children's  children. 
To  do  so  we  must  show,  not  merely  in  great  crises,  but  in  the  every 
day  affairs  of  life,  the  qualities  of  practical  intelligence,  of  courage, 
of  hardihood  and  endurance,  and  above  all  the  power  of  devotion  to 
a  lofty  ideal,  which  made  great  the  men  who  founded  this  republic 
in  the  days  of  Washington,  which  made  great  the  men  who  pre 
served  this  republic  in  the  days  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

THE  NEW  CABINET. 

Following  the  inaugural  ceremonies  was  an  immense  parade, 
reviewed  by  the  President.  Thirty-five  thousand  men  were  in  line. 
There  were  many  picturesque  features  in  the  parade,  including 
military  cadets  from  West  Point  and  naval  cadets  from  Annapolis ; 
detachments  of  the  regular  army,  with  officers  of  the  army  and 
navy ;  cowboys  from  the  far  West ;  Indians  clad  in  native  costume  ; 
and  an  immense  crowd  of  civilians  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

In  the  evening  occurred  the  usual  inaugural  ball,  which  was 
attended  by  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  the  Capital,  and  was  a 
successful  termination  of  the  day's  ceremonies.  The  President  and 
members  of  his  family  were  present. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  cabinet  was  constituted  as  follows :  Secretary 
of  State,  John  Hay ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Leslie  M.  Shaw ; 
Secretary  of  War,  William  H.  Taft ;  Attorney-General,  William 
H.  Moody;  Postmaster-General,  George  B.  Cortelyou;  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  Paul  Morton ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Ethan  A. 
Hitchcock;  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  James  Wilson,  and  Secretary 
of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Victor  B.  Metcalf. 


190  ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

Secretary  of  State,  John  Hay,  died  on  the  first  of  Jnly,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Hon.  Elihu  Root,  of  New  York.  By  the  death 
of  Mr.  Hay  our  country  lost  its  greatest  diplomat,  whose  high 
character,  distinguished  ability  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of 
peace  in  both  hemispheres  were  universally  admitted.  His  brilliant 
deeds  had  a  powerful  effect  in  changing  the  history  of  the  world. 

ROOSEVELT  THE  WORLD'S  GREAT  PEACEMAKER. 

One  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  President  Roosevelt's 
administration  was  securing  peace  between  Russia  and  Japan, 
which  ended  the  lamentable  war  between  those  countries. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Russian  naval  fleet  in  the  Sea  of  Japan 
there  was  a  universal  expectation  of  an  attempt  to  end  the  war  and 
secure  peace.  President  Roosevelt  resolved  to  cast  aside  all  round 
about  diplomacy  and  bring  the  belligerents  together,  in  the  hope  of 
ending  the  strife.  It  was  announced  at  Washington,  June  9th,  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  securing  the  acquiescence  of  Japan  and  Russia 
to  the  opening  of  peace  negotiations.  He  addressed  a  cable  message 
to  both  Governments  and  it  was  delivered  to  the  Mikado  at  Tokio 
and  the  Czar  at  St.  Petersburg. 

This  note  was  not  sent  until  it  had  been  ascertained  that  both 
Governments  were  ready  to  entertain  a  proposition  with  a  view  to 
opening  peace  negotiations.  The  following  despatch  was  sent  by 
the  President,  through  our  representatives  to  the  Japanese  and 
Russian  Governments : 

"  The  President  feels  that  the  time  has  come  when,  in  the 
interest  of  all  mankind  he  must  endeavor,  if  possible,  to  bring  to 
an  end  the  terrible  and  lamentable  conflict  now  being  waged. 

"  With  both  Russia  and  Japan  the  United  States  has  inherited 
ties  of  friendship  and  good  will.  It  hopes  for  the  prosperity  and 
welfare  of  each,  'and  it  feels  that  the  progress  of  the  world  is  set 
hack  by  the  war  between  these  two  great  nations. 

"  The  President  accordingly  urges  the  Russian  and  Japanese 
Governments,  not  only  for  their  own  sakes,  but  in  the  interest  of 
the  whole  civilized  world,  to  open  direct  nogotiations  for  peace  with 
one  another.  The  President  suggests  that  these  peace  negotiations 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

be  conducted  directly  and  exclusively  between  the  belligerents ;  in 
other  words,  that  there  may  be  a  meeting  of  Russian  and  Japanese 
plenipotentiaries  or  delegates  without  any  intermediary,  in  order  to 
see  if  it  is  not  possible  for  ^hese  representatives  of  the  two  Powers 
to  agree  to  terms  of  peace. 

"  The  President  earnestly  asks  that  the  Russian  (Japanese) 
Government  do  now  agree  to  such  a  meeting,  and  is  asking  the 
Japanese  (Russian)  Government  likewise  to  agree. 

"  While  the  President  does  not  feel  that  any  intermediary 
should  be  called  in  in  respect  to  the  peace  negotiations  themselves, 
he  is  entirely  willing  to  do  what  he  properly  can  if  the  two  Powers 
concerned  feel  that  his  services  will  be  of  aid  in  arranging  the  pre 
liminaries  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  meeting. 

"  But,  if  even  these  preliminaries  can  be  arranged  directly 
between  the  two  Powers,  or  in  any  other  way,  the  President  will  be 
glad,  as  his  sole  purpose  is  to  bring  about  a  meeting  which  the 
whole  civilized  world  will  pray  may  result  in  peace." 

CONSENT  TO  PEACE  PROPOSITION  SECURED. 

Fearlessly  treading  on  delicate  ground  that  might  daunt  the 
most  finished  diplomat,  President  Roosevelt  moved  step  by  step 
until  he  secured  the  consent  of  "Tokio  and  St.  Petersburg  to  accept 
for  consideration  the  proposition  outlined  in  his  identical  note 
which  offered  to  both  an  honorable  basis  for  a  peace  treaty.  It  was 
evidently  understood  that  as  soon  as  this  note  was  delivered  at  the 
Foreign  Offices  in  Tokio  and  St.  Petersburg  its  contents  should  be 
made  public,  for  when  a  cablegram  reached  the  State  Department 
from  Minister  Griscom  that  the  note  had  been  presented  by  him  to 
the  Japanese  Foreign  Officers,  copies  of  it  were  at  once  released  a^ 
the  White  House. 

Both  Russia  and  Japan,  having  accepted  the  proposition  for 
peace  negotiations,  and  having  appointed  envoys  clothed  with 
power  to  form  a  treaty,  on  August  5th,  President  Roosevelt,  on 
behalf  the  United  States  and  its  people,  extended  formal  greetings 
to  the  representatives  of  Russia  and  Japan,  introduced  the  pleni 
potentiaries  to  one  another  and  entertained  them  at  an  elaborate 


192  ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

luncheon,  at  which   Russians  and  Japanese  fraternized  with  one 
another  as  comrades,  rather  than  as  enemies. 

The  handsome  war  yacht  Mayflower,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
vessels  of  the  United  States  navy,  on  which  the  formal  reception 
of  the  Russian  and  Japanese  plenipotentiaries  took  place,  swung 
easily  at  anchor  just  at  the  entrance  of  Oyster  Bay  from  Long 
Island  Sound.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  away  was  the  despatch  boat 
Dolphin,  the  favorite  cruising  vessel  of  several  Presidents  of  the 
United  States.  Two  miles  out  in  the  Sound  the  cruiser  Galves- 
ton  was  anchored,  in  waiting  to  convoy  the  vessels  bearing  the 
envoys  to  the  seat  of  the  Washington  peace  conference  at  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H. 

THE   PRESIDENT'S   FAMOUS  TOAST. 

At  luncheon  on  board  the  Mayflower  the  President  proposed 
the  following  toast : 

"  Gentlemen — I  propose  a  toast  to  which  there  will  be  no  answer 
and  to  which  I  ask  you  to  drink  in  silence,  standing.  I  drink  to 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  sovereigns  and  peoples  of  the  two 
great  nations  whose  representatives  have  met  one  another  on  this 
ship.  It  is  my  most  earnest  hope  and  prayer  in  the  interest  of  not 
only  these  two  great  Powers,  but  of  all  mankind,  that  a  just  and 
lasting  peace  may  speedily  be  concluded  between  them." 

After  much  discussion,  and,  on  several  occasions,  a  threatened 
rupture,  which  in  each  instance  was  tactfully  averted  by  President 
Roosevelt,  the  plenipotentiaries  arrived  at  a  complete  agreement, 
and  signed  a  treaty  of  peace  on  September  5th,  1905. 

President  Roosevelt,  in  the  peace  assured  at  Portsmouth,  won  a 
great  personal  triumph  and  achieved  a  service  to  humanity  vouch 
safed  to  no  man  in  our  day.  Great  as  was  Bismarck's  work  in 
securing  peace  at  the  Berlin  Congress  President  Roosevelt's  work 
on  this  occasion  was  greater  still.  He  called  the  conference- 
Again  and  again  he  saved  it  from  disaster.  At  the  end  he  secured 
the  concessions,  first  from  the  Czar  and  next  from  the  Mikado, 
which  made  peace  possible.  Without  President  Roosevelt  war 
would  have  been  resumed.  Single  handed  and  alone  he  changed 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION,  193 

the  history  of  the  world  when  neither  nation  at  war  asked  for  his 
good  offices  nor  desired  them. 

Such  an  achievement  and  such  a  work  put  a  man  in  a  class 
apart.  He  becomes  in  himself  one  of  the  world's  greatest  forces, 
to  be  reckoned  with  in  all  its  wider  affairs.  No  man's  career  and 
no  man's  future  can  be  regarded  in  the  same  light  or  prove  the 
same  after  such  supreme  success  in  the  most  difficult  of  tasks  as 
after  he  has  been  thus  triumphantly  tested  by  the  "  arduous  great 
ness  of  things  done."  At  home  and  abroad,  in  international 
affairs  and  in  domestic  politics,  the  "  World  Peacemaker  "  holds  a 
new  place  and  speaks  with  new  power  in  all  he  says  and  does. 

No  greater  stroke  in  diplomacy  has  been  achieved  in  our  day. 
It  makes  M.  Witte  the  one  Russian  who  in  disastrous  struggle  has 
saved  the  honor  and  treasure  of  his  land  in  the  council  chamber 
when  all  had  been  lost  by  sea  and  by  land. 

GREAT  STROKE  OF  DIPLOMACY. 

Crowned  heads  of  the  world  united  with  distinguished  states 
men  of  America  and  Europe  in  according  the  glory  of  peace  between 
Russia  and  Japan  to  President  Roosevelt.  Telegrams  of  congratu 
lation  poured  in  upon  the  President  in  a  great  flood.  They  came 
from  persons  of  high  degree  and  of  low,  and  from  all  quarters  of 
the  civilized  world. 

Among  the  first  messages  received  was  one  from  the  King  of 
England,  as  follows :  "  To  the  President :  Let  me  be  one  of  the. 
first  to  congratulate  you  on  the  successful  issue  of  the  peace  con 
ference  to  which  you  have  so  greatly  contributed. 

"  EDWARD,  R.  I." 

Soon  afterward  a  notably  cordial  cablegram  was  received  from 
Emperor  William  of  Germany.  It  read :  "  President  Theodore 
Roosevelt :  Just  received  cable  from  America  announcing  agree 
ment  of  peace  conference  on  preliminaries  of  peace ;  I'm  overjoyed ; 
express  most  sincere  congratulations  at  the  great  success  due  to 
your  untiring  efforts.  The  whole  of  mankind  will  unite  in  thank 
ing  you  for  the  great  boon  you  have  given  it. 

"  WILLIAM  I.  R." 

18—M.L. 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

Ambassador  Jusserand,  of  France,  sent  this  cablegram: 
u  President  Roosevelt :  Heartiest,  warmest  congratulations. 

"JESSURAND." 

Then  came  telegrams  from  diplomatic  representatives  of 
foreign  governments  in  this  country — from  Sir  Mortimer  Durand, 
the  British  Ambassador ;  from  Mayor  Des  Planches,  Ambassador 
of  Italy,  and  from  Sir  Chentung  Liang  Cheng,  the  Chinese  Minis 
ter.  They  follow :  "  Please  submit  to  the  President  my  most 
cordial  congratulations  upon  success  of  his  efforts  to  bring  about 
peace.  DURAND." 

"  The  President :  I  beg  to  offer  you  hearty  congratulations  for 
the  successful  conclusion  of  peace,  for  which  the  whole  world, 
especially  the  Orient,  is  ever  indebted  to  you. 

"CHENTUNG  LIANG  CHENG." 

"  I  beg  to  offer  you,  Mr.  President,  on  behalf  of  the  Italian 
Government  and  of  myself,  as  representative  of  my  august  sov 
ereign,  heartfelt  congratulations  for  your  great  success  in  re-estab 
lishing  peace.  Italy,  who,  since  her  constitution,  has  endeavored 
to  be  an  element  and  factor  of  harmony  among  nations,  will 
greatly  admire  and  praise  the  work  you  brought  on  so  advanta 
geously  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 

"  MAYOR  DES  PLANCHES." 

Count  Cassini,  who  was  succeeded  by  Baron  Rosen  as  Russian 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  cabled  as  follows :  "  President 
Roosevelt :  Profoundly  happy  at  the  result  of  the  negotiations 
which  assures  a  peace  honorable  for  both  nations  and  in  which  you 
have  taken  so  fruitful  a  part.  CASSINI." 

"  Your  Excellency  has  rendered  to  humanity  an  eminent  ser 
vice,  for  which  I  felicitate  you  heartily.  The  French  Republic 
rejoices  in  the  role  that  her  sister  America  has  played  in  this  his 
toric  event.  "  EMILE  LOUBET.' 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  195 

Emperor  Nicholas  of  Russia  recognized  gratefully  the  great 
part  which  President  Roosevelt  played  in  the  successful  negotia 
tions  for  peace  in  the  following  cablegram  received  by  the  President : 
"  President  Roosevelt :  Accept  my  congratulations  and  earnest 
thanks  for  having  brought  the  peace  negotiations  to  a  successful 
conclusion  owing  to  your  personal  energetic  efforts.  My  country 
will  gratefully  recognize  the  great  part  you  have  played  in  the 
Portsmouth  peace  conference.  NICHOLAS." 

In  response  to  a  request  for  an  opinion  relative  to  President 
Roosevelt's  part  in  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  Japan  and 
Russia,  Cardinal  Gibbons  said :  "  President  Roosevelt  is  a  great 
man,  the  greatest  in  his  time.  He  is  first  in  peace  and  first  in  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen.  He  is  the  biggest  man  in  this  century, 
because  he  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  to  an  end  a  terrible 
war.  I  admire  him  for  his  great  work,  and  the  nation  will  bless 
him." 

In  a  letter  to  Baron  Komura  the  President  extended  his  con 
gratulations  upon  the  wisdom  and  magnanimity  manifested  by  Japan 
in  the  negotiations.  The  letter  follows :  "  My  Dear  Baron 
Komura  :  May  I  ask  you  to  convey  to  his  Majesty,  the  Brnperor  of 
Japan,  my  earnest  congratulations  upon  the  wisdom  and  mag 
nanimity  he  and  the  Japanese  people  have  displayed  ?  I  am  sure 
that  all  civilized  mankind  share  this  feeling  with  me.  Sincerely 
yours,  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 

That  President  Roosevelt,  by  influencing  the  Portsmouth 
peace  conference  to  a  successful  conclusion,  has  made  a  place  for 
himself  as  one  of  the  great  figures  of  history  is  patent.  Japan, 
insistent  and  exacting,  turned  at  the  last  moment  to  so  magnani 
mous  a  course  as  to  have  surprised  and  startled  the  world. 

But  behind  the  belligerent  nations,  ceaselessly  active,  indom 
itable  in  courage,  fixed  in  determination  to  consummate  peace 
if  peace  were  possible,  smashing  precedent  and  toppling  tradi 
tion  in  pursuit  of  that  endeavor,  was  Theodore  Roosevelt,  The 
American. 

America  has  known  the  man  these  many   years.     The  world 


X96  ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

knows  him  now  as  the  mightiest  individual  force  among  all  the 
millions  of  humanity.  Kings  have  laid  their  praises  at  his  feet. 
Emperors  have  thanked  and  congratulated  him  for  an  unparalelled 
service  to  civilization.  The  Pontiff  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has 
thanked  God  for  Theodore  Roosevelt's  courage.  Emperor  Nicholas, 
of  Russia,  and  M.  Witte,  his  plenipotentiary,  have  ascribed  to  him  all 
the  glory  for  the  peace  achievement.  On  Manchurian  plains  Rus 
sian  and  Japanese  soldiers  rejoiced  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  dared 
and  did.  In  Japan  and  in  Russia,  in  unknown  thousands  of 
homes,  prayers  of  thanksgiving  for  the  man  were  breathed. 

President  Roosevelt  received  from  the  Emperor  of  Japan  the 
following  message  of  thanks  and  appreciation  for  the  part  played 
by  the  President  in  the  negotiations  which  resulted  in  a  cessation 
of  hostilities  in  the  far  East : 

"  Mr.  President :  I  have  received  with  gratification  your  message 
of  congratulations,  conveyed  through  our  plenipotentiaries,  and 
thank  you  warmly  for  them.  In  your  disinterested  and  unremit 
ting  efforts  in  the  interests  of  peace  and  humanity  I  attach  the 
high  value  which  is  their  due,  and  assure  you  of  my  grateful 
appreciation  of  the  distinguished  part  you  have  taken  in  the  estab 
lishment  of  peace  based  upon  principles  essential  to  the  permanent 
welfare  and  tranquillity  of  the  far  East. 

-   "  MUTSUHITO.'' 

Congressman  William  Alden  Smith,  of  Michigan,  was  one  of 
Emperor  William's  guests  at  dinner  on  September  2d.  After 
dinner  Emperor  William  referred  to  the  peace  conference  at  Ports 
mouth,  saying :  u  President  Roosevelt  alone  deserves  credit  for 
bringing  about  peace.  He  was  the  only  man  in  the  world  who 
could  have  done  it.  He  did  his  part  splendidly." 

Once  in  many  years  comes  a  man  whose  character  and  deeds 
distinguish  him  above  all  others.  Coming  generations  will  look 
back  over  our  long  list  of  Presidents  and  Roosevelt  will  be  classed 
with  Washington  and  Lincoln.  These  illustrious  names  will 
stand  pre-eminent  in  the  history  of  our  country,  for  while  many 
able  men  have  occupied  the  Presidential  chair,  Washington,  Lin 
coln  and  Roosevelt  tower  far  above  all  others. 


ROOSEVELT'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  197 

President  Roosevelt  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress  on 
May  4,  1906,  dealing  with  the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  other 
matters.  Accompanying  the  message  was  Commissioner  Garfield's 
report  of  his  investigation  made  in  response  to  a  resolution  of  the 
House  adopted  on  February  5,  1905.  The  message  called  particu 
lar  attention  to  the  way  in  which  the  law  is  evaded  by  treating  as 
State  Commerce  what  in  reality  is  interstate  commerce,  the  oil 
company  taking  advantage  of  secret  rates  in  shipping  its  com 
modity  across  a  State,  and  complying  with  the  requirements  of  the 
Federal  law  only  long  enough  to  get  its  freight  across  a  boundary. 
The  message  pointed  out  the  futility  of  independent  concerns 
attempting  to  compete  with  the  trust  under  traffic  conditions  which 
so  favor  the  monopoly,  and  urged  Congress  to  lodge  such  additional 
power  in  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as  would  permit  of 
the  correction  of  abuses.  The  message  also  said  that  the  railroads 
should  be  permitted  to  unite  for  proper  purposes — that  is,  the  pro 
tection  of  themselves  and  the  public  against  the  power  of  the  trusts. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  THRUST  AT  UNLAWFUL  COMPETITION. 

The  message  concluded  with  mention  of  the  free  alcohol  bill 
and  of  the  oil  and  coal  lands  which  the  Government  now  controls. 
"  The  Standard  Oil  Company  has,  largely  by  unfair  or  unlawful 
methods,  crushed  out  home  competition.  It  is  highly  desirable 
that  an  element  of  competition  should  be  introduced  by  the  passage 
of  some  such  law  as  has  passed  the  House,  putting  alcohol  used 
in  the  arts  and  manufactures  upon  the  free  list.  Furthermore  the 
time  has  come  when  no  oil  or  coal  lands  held  by  the  Government, 
either  iipon  the  public  domain  proper  or  in  territory  held  by  the 
Indian  tribes,  should  be  alienated.  The  fee  to  such  lands  should 
be  kept  in  the  United  States  Government  whether  or  not  the 
profits  arising  from  it  are  to  be  given  to  any  Indian  tribe,  and  the 
lands  should  be  leased  only  on  such  terms  and  for  such  periods  as 
will  enable  the  Government  to  keep  entire  control  thereof."  Bill 
for  Panama  Lock  Canal  signed  by  President,  June  29th ;  also 
Railroad  Rate  bill  and  Naturalization  bill.  Congress  adjourned 
June  3Oth,  1906. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
CURBING  PREDATORY   WEALTH. 

LAST  YEAR  OF  ROOSEVELT  REGIME — TAKICS  UP  ARMS  AGAINST 
TRUSTS — A  TITANIC  STRUGGLE — WINS  DEMOCRATIC  AP 
PLAUSE — CORPORATIONS  FORCE  A  PANIC — PUBLIC  BACKS  THE 
PRESIDENT — AFTER  PUBLIC  LAND  THIEVES — JUSTICE  TO 
CHINA — WARCLOUD  IN  PACIFIC — AVERTING  STRIFE  WITH 
JAPAN. 

IT  was  the  last  two  years  of  President  Roosevelt's  administration, 
however,  that  witnessed  the  greatest  activity  in  curbing  the 
arrogance  of  the  predatory  wealth  of  the  country. 

During  the  time  he  was  filling  out  the  unexpired  term  of 
Mr.  McKinley  he  did  not  feel  free,  since  he  himself  was  not  elected 
by  the  people,  to  do  many  things  that  he  was  sure  the  safety, 
security  and  future  welfare  of  the  Republic  demanded  should  be 
done.  The  great  war  between  Japan  and  Russia,  threatening  as 
it  did  the  peace  of  the  entire  world,  distracted  attention  from  evils 
nearer  home  during  the  earlier  part  of  what  Mr.  Roosevelt  had 
termed  his  "own"  administration. 

Now,  however,  that  this  great  struggle  had  been  so  happily 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  himself,  at  last 
he  was  free  to  take  up  arms  against  the  corrupt  wealth,  the  preda 
tory  trusts,  the  rebating  railroads  of  the  country. 

The  struggle  was  a  Titanic  one.  On  one  side  were  arrayed  all 
the  "special  interests"  of  Wall  street,  the  railroad  kings,  the  trust 
magnates,  the  insurance  princes,  and  the  subsidized  press.  On  the 
other,  grim  and  determined,  was  the  administration,  backed  by  the 
laws,  the  courts,  and  what  is  even  more  important,  by  the  prac 
tically  undivided  support  of  the  country  at  large. 

Perhaps  no  President,  least  of  all  so  fierce  a  partizan  as  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  ever  before  was  accorded  the  support  of  so  great  a 
percentage  of  his  erstwhile  political  opponents.  From  every  quarter 

198 


CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH.  199 

of  the  nation  came  offers  of  assistance  in  his  great  battle  against 
ill-gotten  gain.  The  editorial  columns  of  the  Democratic  papers 
that  were  free  from  Wall  street  influence  were  as  enthusiastically 
in  favor  of  the  Roosevelt  policies  as  were  the  organs  of  the  most 
rabid  Republicanism. 

It  hardly  would  be  fair  to  denounce  all  who  railed  against  the 
administration's  activities  as  corrupt,  for  many  honestly  were  misled 
and  deceived.  Many  firmly  believed  that  the  National  Government's 
efforts  to  restrain  corporations  would  check  investments  and  hinder 
industry;  many  felt  sure  that  the  restrictive  and  in  some  cases  vio 
lent  legislation  of  some  of  the  states,  inspired  by  the  Roosevelt 
agitation,  would  so  drive  capital  to  cover,  that  legitimate  industry 
would  halt ;  and  others  feared  that  the  invidious  emphasis  that  has 
been  put  on  wealth  during  this  long  agitation  would  encourage  a 
violent  class  feeling  by  the  poor  against  the  rich  and  would  bring 
an  era  of  dangerous  economic  and  social  experiments. 

ROOSEVELT  WAS  RIGHT. 

Nothing  of  this  kind  happened.  The  public  refused  to  be 
frightened  by  the  fears  or  by  the  threats  of  the  great  corporations, 
and  the  great  corporations  were  not  really  hurt  in  their  legitimate 
activity  by  the  rising  tide  of  popular  anger.  There  could  hardly 
be  better  proof  either  of  the  safe  foundations  of  our  prosperity 
or  of  the  essential  soundness  of  the  people's  judgment. 

And  yet  a  panic  came — as  cruel,  needless  and  artificial  a  panic 
as  ever  money  kings  forced  upon  a  helpless  people. 

It  was  done  to  discredit  Mr.  Roosevelt,  but  it  served  only  to 
prove  his  contentions.  It  was  forced  and  fostered  by  Wall  street 
to  cripple  the  administration.  It  crippled  Wall  street  and  made  Mr. 
Roosevelt  and  his  policies  invincible  before  the  people. 

Cleverly  as  the  financial  game  was  worked,  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  of  the  country  clearly  saw  the  wires  being  pulled  and 
readily  identified  the  wealthy  malefactors  who  were  precipitating 
panic,  regardless  of  consequences,  in  order  to  discredit  the  man  who 
really  was  working  for  the-  benefit  of  the  nation. 

Some  foolish  local  laws  did  damage  as  far  as  they  went.    But 


200  CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH. 

the  main  tendency  of  the  whole  agitation  of  these  two  or  three  years 
was  reassuring  and  constructive. 

Proof  of  this  is  easy  to  find.  Consider,  for  instance,  the  pro 
hibition  of  railroad  passes.  Every  railroad  in  the  country  profited 
by  it ;  and  they  profited  not  only  by  the  receipt  of  increased  revenue 
from  fares  but  even  more  by  relief  from  a  vicious  system  of  special 
favors,  which  was  a  system  of  petty  blackmail.  Again,  in  every 
case  where  a  rebate  was  stopped,  not  only  has  the  railroad  received 
more  money  for  its  service,  but  it  has  given  the  competitors  of  the 
rebate-receiver  a  greater  security  in  their  business. 

AWAKENING  OF  PUBLIC  CONSCIENCE. 

A  larger  result  than  all  these  was  the  general  awakening  of  the 
public  conscience  about  the  management  "of  corporations.  Not  only 
have  railroads  and  other  public-service  corporations  become  more 
careful  in  their  conduct,  but  private  corporations  as  well.  If  an 
examination  had  been  made  four  or  five  years  before  of  the  con 
dition  and  of  the  conduct  of  all  the  companies  doing  business  in  the 
United  States,  and  if  a  similar  examination  could  have  been  made 
towards  the  close  of  the  Roosevelt  regime,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
a  very  great  improvement  would  have  been  discovered.  The  rights 
of  stockholders  are  more  carefully  considered. 

Not  long  ago  the  counsel  of  a  private  corporation  in  New  York 
was  preparing  a  tax  statement,  and  the  officers  of  the  company  said 
to  him :  "Prepare  it  exactly  as  if  you  knew  that  the  company  would 
be  examined  next  week  as  the  insurance  companies  were,  or  as  if 
an  inquiry  were  to  be  made  by  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor."  The  double  standard  of  conduct — one  standard  for  private 
affairs  and  another  for  corporate  affairs — is  less  common  than  it 
was. 

Every  act  or  tendency  or  awakening  that  makes  for  honesty 
and  for  fair  dealing  directly  adds  to  the  stability  of  values,  to  the 
security  of  investments,  and  to  financial  confidence.  These  forces 
are  far  stronger  for  stability  than  the  rhetorical  alarm  in  financial 
circles  is  for  panic.  Moreover,  the  checking,  by  any  legitimate 


CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH.  201 

force,  of  the  ambitions  of  great  financial  consolidators  has  itself 
added  to  prosperity  and  security. 

This  state  of  affairs  is  due  to  one  man — Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Another  bitter  fight  for  the  rights  of  the  people  was  against 
the  public  land  thieves  who  had  despoiled  the  West  of  both  arable 
land  and  timber  reserves. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  body  of  laws  to  govern  the  care  and  the 
use  and  the  disposition  of  government  lands  in  the  western  states. 
But  many  of  them  had  been  so  systematically  disregarded,  evaded, 
and  violated  that  in  many  communities  they  had  become  a  dead 
letter. 

Public  opinion  had  become  adjusted  to  evading  them.  Import 
ant  enterprises  were  conducted  in  disregard  of  them,  and  large 
investments  made.  Many  men  ceased  supposing  that  they  would 
ever  be  rigidly  enforced ;  and  the  "moral  sentiment"  of  many  com 
munities  approved  their  desuetude. 

MANY  PROMINENT  MEN  INDICTED. 

Yet  in  the  main  these  are  wise  laws,  necessary  for  the  proper 
use  or  for  the  preservation  of  forest  and  water  supplies. 

When  the  Roosevelt  Administration  began  to  enforce  them, 
many  prominent  men  were  indicted  and  some  were  convicted.  But 
the  sympathy  of  a  large  part  of  the  public  in  the  West,  for  a  time 
at  least,  was  with  the  violators  and  not  with  the  enforcers  of  the 
law. 

At  the  Public  Land  Convention  in  Denver,  the  Colorado  dele 
gates  wore  badges  denouncing  "interference  by  Government  bureaus 
under  autocratic  rules  and  regulations;"  Senator  Heyburn  exhib 
ited  a  map  of  Idaho  showing  the  large  areas  of  forest  reserves  and 
spoke  as  if  the  Government  had  forcibly  and  wantonly  taken  this 
land  from  people  who  had  titles  to  it ;  and  the  drift  of  the  addresses 
was  against  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 

The  whole  subject  was  in  a  chaotic  state.  Congress  stopped 
some  executive  orders  touching  land  administration  while  they  were 
in  process  of  execution.  The  Western  sentiment — a  strong  part 
of  it  at  least — was  opposed  to  the  proper  preservation  of  these 


202  CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH. 

forests.  The  Administration  was,  of  course,  in  favor  of  their 
preservation. 

The  public  opinion  of  the  country  (except  so  much  of  it  as  was 
more  or  less  selfishly  interested  or  had  suffered  hardship  because 
of  the  recent  enforcement  of  laws  long  disregarded)  demanded  that 
the  policy  of  the  Administration  be  carried  out. 

The  conflict  continued  in  Congress,  as  it  was  all  the  while 
appearing  in  the  courts,  where  land  thieves  were  brought  to  trial. 

In  the  end,  the  general  purpose  of  the  existing  laws  and  the 
policy  of  the  President  prevailed,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  receive 
the  thanks  of  the  next  generation,  which  will  be  more  earnest  even 
than  the  opposition  of  the  present. 

Besides  the  fight  against  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  the 
American  Tobacco  Company  was  another  gigantic  corporation 
which  Mr.  Roosevelt  assailed  as  a  trust. 

TACKLING  THE  TOBACCO  TRUST. 

In  the  bill  of  complaint  made  by  the  Federal  Government 
against  the  American  Tobacco  Company  and  its  subsidiary  corpora 
tions,  if  other  means  of  preventing  restraint  of  trade  should  fail  in 
court  was  asked  to  "appoint  receivers  to  take  possession  of  all  the 
assets  of  the  various  companies,  and,  if  necessary,  to  wind  them  up." 

The  whole  commercial  world  firmly  held  to  the  usual  concep 
tion  of  a  receivership — as  a  method  of  dealing  with  a  business  that 
has  failed.  The  proposal  to  use  it  as  a  punishment  was  a  new  con 
ception  to  the  lay  mind ;  and  the  proposal  to  use  it  as  a  punishment 
for  "success'  (financial  success  at  least)  seemed  to  a  large  part  of 
the  business  community  either  fantastic  or  fanatical. 

Such  a  judgment  was  utterly  erroneous ;  but  it  was  taken  by  the 
financial  and  political  enemies  and  victims  of  the  Administration 
as  an  occasion  to  decry  the  President  and  his  policy  of  corporation 
regulation.  Another  such  excuse  was  the  extreme  length  to  which 
some  of  the  states  had  gone  in  enacting  and  in  enforcing  (for  the 
time  being)  regulative  statutes  which  the  trusts  and  railroads  hoped 
would  not  stand  the  test  of  the  courts.  "The  whole  movement  has 
gone  too  far!"  "You  see  the  inevitable  result!"  Such  remarks 


CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH.  203 

as  these  were  more  frequently  heard  than  at  any  time  since  Mr. 
Roosevelt  had  become  President. 

The  opposition  to  the  regulation  of  corporations  hoped  that  a 
tide  of  public  opinion  was  turning  in  their  favor.  But  they  hoped 
in  vain. 

The  service  that  President  Roosevelt  has  done  is  clear  to  men 
who  think  beyond  to-morrow  and  back  of  yesterday.  Six  or  seven 
years  before  the  great  corporations  almost  openly  controlled  a  very 
large  part  of  our  political  life  and  they  had  come  to  think  of  them 
selves  as  the  proprietors  of  American  financial,  industrial,  and 
political  power.  In  this  state  of  mind  there  was  danger  enough. 
But  there  was  a  still  greater  danger  in  the  state  of  mind  which  lent 
itself  to  what,  for  the  lack  of  a  better  name,  may  be  called 
Hearstism. 

In  restraining  this  Mr.  Roosevelt's  greatest  exploit  lay. 

A  CONSTRUCTIVE  FORCE. 

The  work  of  the  Administration  in  reasserting  the  power  of 
law  over  the  great  corporations  was,  not  a  radical,  but  a  conservative 
force.  It  kept  an  angry  and  radical  and  possibly  destructive  power 
from  organizing  itself.  If  some  state  legislatures  and  executives 
went  beyond  sound  law  and  good  sense,  this  was  a  small  evil  that 
was  soon  corrected.  But,  if  a  strong  public  sentiment — all  the 
forces  of  the  dissatisfied — had  rallied,  let  us  say,  to  the  banner  of 
some  irresponsible  fanatic,  we  should  have  had  a  contest  that  would 
have  involved  a  degree  of  danger  that  might  have  put  an  end  to 
prosperity  and  to  many  other  things  besides. 

Now  that  danger  has  passed  and  that  it  has  passed  is  due  to  the 
forceful  bravery  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  The  people  have  become  accus 
tomed  to  the  hope  and  the  expectation  that  corporations  will  be 
made  to  respect  the  law,  that  the  Government  will  be  conducted 
without  surrender  to  them;  and  such  revolutionary  and  radical 
proposals  as  would  lead  to  distrust,  insecurity,  and  even  to  confis 
cation  are  no  longer  feared. 

And  the  problem  has  been  clearly  formulated  once  for  all.  The 
complete  solution  of  it  may  require  many  experiments,  many  years, 


204  CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH. 

many  Presidential  administrations.  But  Mr.  Roosevelt  proved  that 
the  predatory  trusts  can  be  brought  to  respect  the  law  without  over 
turning  our  industrial  structure  and  without  checking  prosperity. 
His  successors  cannot  escape  the  same  task. 

Whether,  therefore,  any  particular  experiment  or  proposal 
be  fantastical  or  fanatical,  and  whether  any  state  enact  and  enforce 
absurd  laws,  or  whether  Mr.  Roosevelt's  personal  popularity  be  more 
or  less — these  are  of  little  consequence.  To-morrow  they  will  all  be 
forgotten  or  reversed.  The  thing  that  will  remain  for  many  a  day 
and  for  other  Presidents  and  Congresses  will  be  this  well-formu 
lated  task — to  keep  the  great  combinations  of  capital  within  the 
bounds  of  just  laws  without  stopping  the  industrial  machinery  and 
the  profitable  activity  of  the  country. 

JUSTICE  FOR  CHINA. 

President  Roosevelt's  successful  efforts  to  stay  the  ravages  of 
war  between  Russia  and  Japan  did  much  to  re-establish  American 
prestige  in  the  Far  East,  but,  perhaps,  no  act  went  further,  in  this, 
than  when,  with  a  commendable  spirit  of  fairness  and  generosity, 
the  Administration  revised  the  indemnity  figures  that  represented 
the  debt  of  China  to  the  United  States  as  a  result  of  the  Boxer 
troubles.  Under  the  protocol,  signed  on  September  7,  1901,  China 
agreed  to  pay  to  the  United  States,  in  forty  years,  $24,440,000  and 
interest  at  the  rate  of  4  per  cent.  The  Roosevelt  Administration 
agreed  to  remit  this  debt  on  the  payment  of  $11,055,000,  of  which 
$6,000,000  had  already  been  paid. 

Of  course,  this  administrative  act,  since  it  altered  the  terms  of 
settlement  established  by  a  treaty  agreement,  had  to  be  ratified  by 
Congress  before  it  went  into  effect.  But  since  it  was  admitted  by 
the  Government  that  the  revised  figures  covered  all  the  actual  cost 
to  this  country  through  the  Boxer  outbreak,  Congress  could  not  very 
well  afford  to  refuse  to  ratify  the  amendment.  A  failure  to  do  so 
would  have  amounted  to  a  confession  that  this  country  desired 
money  more  than  it  desired  a  reputation  for  common  honesty. 

The  important  and  interesting  phase  of  the  matter  is  the  fact 
that  the  revision  threw  more  than  a  reasonable  doubt  upon  all  the 


CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH.  205 

awards  made  under  that  protocol.  If  the  United  States  award 
was  unjust,  or,  as  Mr.  Root  gently  called  it  "a  maximum,"  what 
of  the  Russian  award  of  $87,500,000,  the  German  award  of  $60,- 
000,000,  the  French  awrard  of  $56,000,000? 

The  plain  truth  is,  that  China  was,  one  might  say,  sand-bagged 
by  the  Christian  Powers  in  1901,  as  weak  nations  have  generally 
been.  The  United  States  alone  recorded  a  refusal  to  keep  the 
plunder,  and  it  recorded  it  most  largely,  because  the  inherent 
honesty  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  would  not  let  it  do  otherwise. 

DANGER  OF  WAR  WITH  JAPAN. 

It  was  not  until  the  final  year  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  administra- 
ation,  however,  that  the  gravest  danger  loomed  up — the  possibility 
of  a  war  with  Japan. 

This  condition  arose  from  a  variety  of  sources  pregnant  with 
danger. 

First,  there  arose  on  the  Pacific  coast  a  widespread,  if  not 
universal,  demand  that  the  Japanese  be  excluded  from  this  country. 

Nor  was  it  far  different  in  Canada.  The  anti-Oriental  riot  at 
Vancouver,  following  the  anti- Japanese  demonstration  in  San  Fran 
cisco  and  the  driving  away  of  Hindu  laborers  at  Bellingham,  Wash., 
were  the  work  chiefly  of  men  of  the  labor  unions;  but  in  all  these 
places  the  general  public  feeling  was  on  the  side  of  the  white  men. 

Violent  methods  were  deplored  by  the  best  part  of  the  popula 
tion;  but  there  was  nevertheless  no  doubt  about  a  general  and  very 
serious  objection  to  the  coming  of  men  of  any  of  these  races  in  any 
considerable  number — this  in  spite  of  the  demand  on  the  Pacific 
coast  for  more  labor.  The  objection  to  the  Japanese,  strangely 
enough,  was  stronger  than  the  objection  to  the  Chinese  and  the 
Hindus. 

There  is  the  same  feeling  in  all  English-held  lands — in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  which  exclude  Mongolians,  in  Natal 
which  prohibits  the  coming  of  more  Hindus,  in  the  Transvaal  which 
is  trying  ultimately  to  exclude  the  Chinese  permanently. 

Canada  has  a  commercial  agreement  whereunder  direct  Jap 
anese  immigration  is  restricted  annually  to  500  persons,  which, 


206  CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH. 

however,  had  not  until  the  recent  trouble  prevented  the  coming  of 
many  of  them  from  Hawaii. 

All  this  is  in  spite  of  the  general  treaty  between  Great  Britain 
and  Japan. 

It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  this  feeling  of  irritation  was 
seized  upon  by  the  "yellow"  press  of  both  countries  and  blazoned 
before  the  world  until  war  was  seriously  discussed  not  only  in  the 
papers  of  the  two  countries,  but  in  all  the  capitals  of  the  world. 

At  this  juncture  President  Roosevelt  made  his  first  move  for 
the  preservation  of  peace — a  diplomatic  move,  as  is  characteristic 
of  the  man.  Later  he  was  forced  to  rely  upon  the  veiled  threat  of 
the  most  powerful  fleet  ever  gathered  together  in  the  world.  But 
his  first  act  in  the  drama  was  the  sending  of  Secretary  Taft  to 
Japan  as  the  "Ambassador  of  Peace." 

THE  AMBASSADOR  OF  PEACE. 

Secretary  Taft's  happy  and  emphatic  declaration,  at  an  official 
dinner  given  in  his  honor  in  Tokio,  that  talk  of  war  between  Japan 
and  the  United  States  was  "infamous,"  ought  to  have  arrested  the 
activity  of  the  criminal  press  in  discussing  such  a  subject.  Most  of 
such  discussion  was  "infamous."  Absurd,  if  not  criminal,  also  was 
the  recurring  newspaper  talk  about  selling  the  Philippines,  which 
Secretary  Taft  described  on  the  same  occasion  as  unworthy  of  con 
sideration  because,  among  other  reasons,  we  had  entered  into  moral 
obligations  to  the  people  of  the  islands  which  it  would  be  ignomin 
ious  to  shirk  or  to  transfer. 

This  latter  suggestion  in  regard  to  the  Philippines,  indeed, 
doubtless  had  its  part  in  stirring  up  trouble  between  the  United 
States  and  the  people  of  the  Mikado. 

But  out  of  the  anarchy  from  which  San  Francisco  suffered 
came  one  annoyance  to  the  Japanese  after  another — too  little,  per 
haps,  to  deserve  notice  under  normal  conditions.  But  the  Japanese 
jingoes  noticed  even  a  reported  prohibition  of  Japanese  employment 
agencies  by  the  San  Francisco  authorities;  and  one  of  their  news 
papers,  an  organ  of  the  Opposition,  published  a  sort  of  demand  for 
an  international  inquiry.  In  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  a  meeting  of 


CURBING   PREDATORY  WEALTH.  207 

Japanese  "demanded"  the  admission  of  Japanese  laborers  to  the 
United  States — contrary  to  the  terms  of  our  treaty. 

These  were  trifling  incidents.  Neither  the  Government  at 
Washington  nor  the  Government  at  Tokio  apparently  paid  heed  to 
them;  and  there  was  no  open  strain  on  their  good  relations.  But 
the  people  of  Japan,  or  some  of  them,  are  sensitive;  and  their  trade 
organizations  addressed  a  polite  letter  of  protest  to  President  Roose 
velt  and  to  American  Boards  of  Trade. 

Japan  protested  that  it  had  no  thought  of  war,  no  wish  for  war, 
no  financial  ability  to  wage  war ;  nor  did  the  Government  of  Japan 
show,  so  far  as  the  public  knew,  any  irritation.  Yet  the  sensational 
press  of  both  countries  and  even  some  of  the  sensational  newspapers 
of  Europe  kept  the  subject  of  a  possible  breach  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan  under  discussion ;  and  agitators  in  California  and 
Opposition  politicians  in  Japan  continued  to  give  occasion  for  news- 
items  and  discussion. 

KUROKI  COMES  HERE. 

But  meanwhile  official  Japan  was  doing  its  best — openly  at 
least — to  avert  trouble.  As  a  return  visit  to  Secretary  Taft's, 
•General  Kuroki  was  sent  to  the  United  States  as  still  another  mes 
senger  of  peace. 

General  Kuroki  was  received  in  the  United  States  everywhere 
with  real  admiration  as  well  as  with  pardonable  curiosity;  and 
everywhere  he  went  he  called  forth  expressions  of  friendliness  to 
himself  and  to  his  country.  For  instance,  the  formation  of  a  Japan 
Society  in  New  York,  a  club  to  preserve  and  to  encourage  the  most 
friendly  relations  between  the  two  countries,  was  a  graceful  indica 
tion  of  cordiality. 

But  the  visit  of  this  distinguished  Japanese  General  and  of  the 
naval  officers  who  made  us  a  brief  visit  set  going  much  diplomatic 
speculation  about  the  part  that  Japan  will  play  in  world-politics. 
The  friendly  compacts  between  England  and  Japan  and  France 
and  Japan;  the  probability  of  Japan's  building  up  an  influence  in 
South  America  by  immigration  and  by  trade;  the  pressure  of  Jap 
anese  immigration  eastward  to  the  Philippines,  the  Hawaiian 


208 


CURBING  PREDATORY  WEALTH. 


Islands,  and  the  United  States ;  the  part  that  Japan  may  play  in  the 
development  of  China — these  and  such  subjects  came  up  for  renewed 
discussion  and  speculation  throughout  the  whole  Western  world. 

In  spite  of  the  temporary  cessation  of  talk  about  the  danger  of 
a  breach  of  friendly  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Japan 
because  of  the  San  Francisco  school  incident,  expressions  of  remote 
apprehension  still  cropped  out  here  and  there.  We  were  reminded 
that  the  inevitable  race-feeling  would  assert  itself  if  Japanese  immi 
gration  were  to  become  great;  we  were  reminded  that,  as  the  Jap 
anese  discovered  that  they  were  taken  seriously  by  the  world  as 
soon  as  they  showed  good  warlike  qualities,  they  might  conclude  that 
another  war  in  due  time — when  they  can  afford  to  pay  for  it — 
would  increase  their  prestige  still  more,  and  that  the  stronger  the 
nation  with  whom  they  fight,  the  greater  the  glory  would  be.  We 
were  reminded,  too,  that  their  industrial  development  might  be  an 
annoyance  to  our  trade  interest. 

Finally  the  talk  became  so  prevalent  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  as  well  as  on  both  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  shores  of 
the  Pacific,  that  diplomatic  platitudes  no  longer  would  suffice. 

Then  Mr.  Roosevelt  showed  the  courage  that  was  in  him. 

Boldly  he  ordered  the  mobilization  of  a  great  fleet  of  battle 
ships  for  a  cruise  around  the  world.  It  was  a  daring  stroke,  but 
Japan  read  its  significance  aright.  Before  it  had  rounded  the  cape 
into  the  Pacific,  fit,  as  Admiral  Evans  so  aptly  expressed  it,  "for 
either  a  frolic  or  a  fight,"  Japan  had  officially  invited  it  to  visit  its 
shores. 

The  Roosevelt  Big  Stick  had  been  waved  not  in  vain.  Danger 
of  war  was  averted. 


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NATIVES   CHASING    ELEPHANTS 


THE  GIRAFFE 

THE    TALLEST    AND     MOST    GRACEFUL    ANIMAL    KNOWN.       THE     SKIN     IS 
VERY    THICK    AND    HIGHLY    VALUED     BY    THE    NATIVES    OF    AFRICA 


SOUTH    AFRICAN    RIVER    HOG 

IT   FREQUENTS  RIVER   BANKS  AND  WET  PI  AC£S.    ONE  VARIETY  IS  NOTABLE  FOR  ITt   PENCILLED  EARS 


SOUTH    AFRICAN    OSTRICHES 


A    MONKEY    CHASE 


THE    SECRETARY    BIRD 


INHABITANT  OF  AFRICA  AND  IS  INVALUABLE  !N   DESTROYING  •MAKB9 


THE    VULTURE 

A    SCAVENGER    THAT    IS    FOUND    IN    VARIOUS    PARTI    OF    AFR.«A 


EXPLORING    PARTY    ON    THE    MARCH-SCENE    IN    AFRICA 


CHAPTER  XV. 
OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

LEFT  NEW  YORK  ON  STEAMER  HAMBURG  ON  MARCH  23,  1909 — 
CHEERING  THOUSANDS  CROWD  PIER — TAFT  SENDS  PRESENT — 
ROOSEVELT  HAS  NARROW  ESCAPE  IN  AZORES — VISITS  GIBRAL 
TAR  AND  NAPLES — MEETS  ITALIAN  KING  AT  MESSINA — 
REACHES  MOMBASA  APRIL  21. 

A  A  J  AVING  a  parting  farewell  with  his  black  slouch  hat,  his  face 
•  *  beaming  in  the  morning  sun  as  he  stood  on  the  captain's 
bridge  of  the  steamship  Hamburg,  former  President  Roosevelt 
sailed  away  from  New  York  Harbor  on  March  23,  1909,  for  his 
long  planned  African  "Safari." 

He  left  his  native  shores  amid  the  cheers  of  thousands  of 
persons  who  swarmed  the  Hamburg-American  Line  pier  at 
Hoboken,  the  whistles  of  countless  river  craft  and  the  thunderous 
reverberations  of  the  ex-President  salute  of  13  guns  from  Forts 
Hamilton  and  Wadsworth. 

The  party  was  known  as  The  Roosevelt-Smithsonian  Institu 
tion  Expedition,  for  when  Charles  D.  Wolcott,  secretary  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  curator  of  the  National  Museum,  heard 
that  President  Roosevelt  was  planning  to  go  to  Africa,  he  imme 
diately  sought  permission  to  send  representatives  with  the  party 
for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  the  collections  of  the  National  Museum. 

The  co-operative  plan,  as  agreed  upon,  provided  for  the  send 
ing  of  three  representatives  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution — Major 
Edgar  A.  Mearns,  United  States  Army,  retired;  Edmund  Heller, 
and  J.  Alden  Loring. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  accompanied  by  his  son  Kermit,  who,  with 
his  father,  was  to  shoot  the  big  game  and  take  photographs. 

The  expenses  of  the  expedition  were  divided  into  five  equal 
shares,  of  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  paid  two  and  the  institution  three. 
^4— M.L.  203 


210  OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

Besides  the  happy  figure  of  the  former  President  as  the  steam 
ship  slipped  out  of  her  dock  stood  a  lad,  seemingly  dejected  as  he 
wistfully  gazed  at  the  cheering  multitude  on  the  pier  below.  It  was 
Kermit  Roosevelt,  who  accompanies  his  father  as  official  photo 
grapher  of  the  expedition.  Father  and  son,  both  clad  in  brilliant 
buff-hued  army  coats,  remained  on  the  bridge  on  the  trip  down  the 
bay  and  acknowledged  with  sweeps  of  their  hats  the  salutes  of  the 
vessels. 

True  to  his  promise,  Mr.  Roosevelt  made  no  statements  regard 
ing  his  hunt  in  Africa  other  than  to  say  that  he  probably  would  be 
gone  about  a  year  and  a  quarter.  Mr.  Roosevelt  eschewed  politics 
to  inquiring  friends  and  contented  himself  with  expressions  of 
pleasure  and  appreciations  of  the  kindly  farewells. 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  TAFT. 

One  incident  of  the  departure  which  touched  Mr.  Roosevelt 
probably  more  than  any  other  was  the  presentation  of  a  message 
and  gift  from  President  Taft  by  Captain  Archibald  Butt,  who  was 
chief  military  aide  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  holds  that  position  under 
President  Taft.  Captain  Butt  had  a  difficult  time  in  reaching  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  It  was  imperative  that  he  should  do  so,  as  he  carried 
a  message  from  the  President  which  required  a  reply.  Finally  after 
Mr.  Roosevelt  had  boarded  the  ship  a  second  time  Captain  Butt 
reached  him  in  his  stateroom. 

Grasping  his  former  aide  by  the  hand  with  a  "By  George,  it  is 
good  to  see  you  again,  Archie,"  Mr.  Roosevelt  drew  the  President's 
messenger  aside  to  talk  with  him.  Captain  Butt  then  delivered 
President  Taft's  message  and  a  small  package  containing  a  ruler 
of  gold  with  pencil  attached.  It  is  a  collapsible  ruler  12  inches  long 
when  drawn  out  of  the  end  of  the  pencil.  On  it  is  inscribed : 

"To  Theodore  Roosevelt  from  William  Howard  Taft :  Goodby 
and  good  luck.  Best  wishes  for  a  safe  return." 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  opened  the  package  he  exclaimed,  "Well, 
now,  isn't  that  just  too  fine!  It  certainly  was  thoughtful  and  kind 
of  President  Taft  to  send  this  to  me  and  I  appreciate  it  greatly." 

Turning  to  Captain  Butt  he  whispered  a  message  for  him  to 


OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE.  211 

carry  to  the  White  House  and  said  he  would  reply  by  wireless 
telegraph  to  the  letter  Mr.  Taft  had  sent  to  him. 

Captain  Butt,  learning  that  Mrs.  Roosevelt  had  remained  at 
Sagamore  Hill,  promised  Mr.  Roosevelt  he  would  go  out  during 
the  afternoon  to  pay  his  respects.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  before  sailing  was  to  send  a  message  to  President  Taft 
reading : 

"Parting  thanks,  love  and  sincerity." 

Friends  and  political  and  official  associates  almost  without 
number  came  aboard  the  steamship  to  speed  the  departing  hunter. 
Only  those  who  were  known  to  Douglas  Robinson,  brother-in-law  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  were  admitted  to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  suite.  An  eleventh 
hour  decoration  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  main  state  room  was  the  hanging 
on  the  walls  of  portraits  of  the  several  members  of  the  Roosevelt 
family  and  pictures  of  the  White  House  and  Sagamore  Hill. 

THANKS   PITTSBURG   FRIENDS. 

The  departure  of  the  Hamburg  was  delayed  until  1 1  :o6  o'clock 
by  Captain  Burmeister,  so  that  Major  General  Wood  and  his  staff 
might  board  the  steamship  from  the  Government  tug  Wyckoff  and 
bid  good-by  to  their  former  commander-in-chief. 

From  the  forward  gangplank  of  the  ship  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
addressing  the  Pittsburg  delegation  and  representatives  of  various 
organizations  that  had  come  to  New  York  to  see  him  off,  made  his 
last  speech.  He  said: 

"I  want  to  thank  the  representatives  from  Pittsburg  who  have 
come  all  this  distance  to  see  me  off.  I  am  indeed  grateful  and  am 
touched  by  their  thought  fulness  and  kindness  in  coming  such  a  long 
way.  I  want  to  thank  also  all  my  fellow  citizens  who  came  to  see 
me  off.  To  you  and  all  Americans  I  say  God  bless  you." 

The  Hamburg  presented  a  pretty  marine  picture  as  she  steamed 
down  the  river  in  the  sunlight.  Racing  alongside  of  the  Hamburg 
was  a  fleet  of  tugs  tooting  incessantly.  The  tugs  carried  scores  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  friends. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  waved  his  hat  in  answer  to  the  cheers  of  those 
on  the  tugs,  for  the  high  wind  prevented  any  sound  of  human  voice 


212  OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

from  carrying  across  the  water.  The  Hamburg  dipped  her  colors 
in  answer  to  the  salute  of  the  forts  and  her  siren  answered  the  fre 
quent  whistles  of  the  craft  met  and  passed. 

When  the  Hamburg  was  last  seen  moving  eastward  in  the  haze 
that  hung  over  the  Atlantic,  those  on  the  tugs  saw  a  figure  high 
upon  the  bridge  waving  a  last  farewell. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  received  a  continuous  ovation  from 
the  time  they  landed  at  the  East  River  terminal  of  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  from  Oyster  Bay  to  the  sailing.  There  was  a  burst  of 
cheers  as  the  ferryboat  landed  at  Thirty-fourth  street,  and  as  the 
party  whirled  through  the  city  streets  pedestrians  catching  a  fleet 
ing  glimpse  of  the  ex-President,  cheered,  took  off  their  hats  and 
waved  farewell, 
i 

THROUGH  WONDERFUL  TUNNEL. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  took  the  keenest  interest  in  his  first  trip  through 
the  Hudson  tube  in  a  special  train  and  took  a  position  in  the  front 
car  so  that  he  might  inspect  the  underground  bore.  He  shook  the 
motorman's  hand  after  the  trip,  saying,  "I  want  to  shake  hands  with 
the  man  behind  the  gun."  Mr.  Roosevelt  started  the  first  train 
through  the  tunnel  a  year  ago  by  pressing  a  button  in  the  White 
House. 

On  the  trip  from  Oyster  Bay  scores  of  men  and  women  stopped 
and  shook  Mr.  Roosevelt's  hand,  wishing  him  farewell  and  a  success 
ful  trip.  At  Long  Island  City  there  were  only  a  few  who  recog 
nized  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  son.  After  a  brisk  walk  they  boarded 
the  ferryboat  Hempstead.  Here  they  were  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  Long  Island  commuters,  who  came  forward  and  extended  their 
farewells. 

As  the  Hempstead  entered  her  slip  the  captain  of  the  boat  from 
the  pilot  house  called  for  "Three  cheers  for  Teddy  Roosevelt." 
Instantly  there  was  a  burst  of  cheers  which  lasted  several  minutes. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  met  here  by  Douglas  Robinson,  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  Lawrence  Abbott.  The  party  proceeded  to  the  Hudson 
tunnel  in  an  automobile. 

To  the  newspaper  men  Mr.  Roosevelt  said : 


OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE.  213 

"It's  just  a  fine  day  to  travel  and  ought  to  be  fine  at  sea.  I 
have  received  hundreds  of  telegrams  wishing  me  a  safe  journey,  but 
I  will  not  give  out  the  names  of  those  who  sent  them.  As  I  have 
said  before,  I  have  no  statement  to  make,  and  it's  strange  you  gentle 
men  of  the  press  have  not  asked  me  this  morning  if  I  have  a  message 
for  the  American  people.  No,  there  is  nothing  to  be  said,  and  I 
really  don't  know  why  newspaper  men  should  want  to  travel  with 
me  to  Naples  or  Mombasa.  Surely  there  is  little  likelihood  of  there 
being  any  incidents  at  sea. 

"You  tell  me  that  the  photographer  of  Mr.  Harmsworth's 
papers,  who  accompanied  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  India,  is  going 
to  join  us  at  Gibraltar.  That  will  be  fine,  won't  it,  Kermit  ?  He  can 
help  you.  I  cannot  definitely  say  how  long  I  shall  be  away,  but  it 
will  be  about  15  months.  My  lecture  at  Oxford  will  take  place  in 
the  spring  of  1910.  I  expect  to  have  a  good  time,  and  I  am  sure  the 
expedition  will  be  a  success." 

PUBLIC  THANKS  THROUGH  PRESS. 

Later  he  received  the  newspaper  men  on  the  Hamburg,  when 
he  said: 

"Now,  gentlemen,  I  am  glad  to  see  you.  What  can  I  tell  you? 
Oh,  yes;  there  is  that  picture  (indicating  a  portrait  of  President 
Taft).  It  is  very  interesting,  and  very  fine,  don't  you  think  so? 

"Oh,  gentlemen,  there  is  one  thing  that  I  desire  very  much  to 
have  you  say  for  me.  There  is  an  immense  mass  of  mail  on  board 
this  steamship  which  has  come  to  me  and  which  I  have  not  been 
able  to  open,  and  much  of  which  I  will  not  be  able  to  open  for  some 
time.  I  have  no  stenographer  with  me.  Since  I  left  the  White 
House  I  have  received  about  5000  to  6000  letters.  Four-fifths  of 
these  I  have  not  even  seen.  My  thanks  to  the  people  who  sent 
them  is,  however,  none  the  less.  Now,  I  wish  that  you  would  say 
for  me  that  it  will  be  only  a  waste  of  time  for  any  one  to  write  to 
me  while  I  am  in  Africa.  Again  I  will  say  that  I  deeply  appreciate 
the  courtesy  of  those  who  have  written  me,  and  take  this  occasion 
to  give  them  my  thanks." 

More  than  1000  persons  were  crowded  on  the  pier  when  Mr. 


214  OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

Roosevelt  arrived,  and  they  cheered  tumultously.  The  Hamburg's 
band  was  on  the  promenade  deck  playing  the  "Star- Spangled 
Banner"  and  the  "Watch  on  the  Rhine."  Hundreds  of  flags  were 
hoisted  aloft  and  the  ship  put  in  full  dress.  The  pier  at  which  the 
Hamburg  lay  was  decorated  with  bunting  and  flags  and  the  gang 
way  to  the  first  cabin  was  draped  with  American  flags. 

TRIBUTE   FROM   ITALIANS. 

A  notable  feature  of  the  reception  was  the  tribute  paid  by  the 
Italian-American  Chamber  of  Commerce.  This  body  presented  a 
bronze  tablet  bearing  on  one  side  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
on  the  other  the  scene  of  the  Sicilian  earthquake  and  a  representa 
tion  of  the  goddess  of  peace  placing  a  wreath  on  Roosevelt's  head. 
The  tablet  was  inscribed: 

"To  Theodore  Roosevelt:  To  you  and  the  United  States  a 
tribute  of  thanksgiving  from  Italo- Americans  for  generous  help  to 
their  stricken  brethren  of  Calabria  and  Sicily." 

Several  delegations  from  Italian  societies  were  present,  bring 
ing  a  band,  a  floral  offering  and  a  large  banner,  which  was  erected 
on  the  pier.  It  bore  the  inscription: 

"Italo-Americans,  let  us  shout,  'Long  live  President  Roosevelt 
and  the  United  States.'  A  tribute  of  thanksgiving  on  behalf  of  our 
brethren  of  Sicily  and  Calabria.  Let  us  solemnly  condemn  any 
crime  staining  Italy's  name.  Let  us  here  pledge  our  loyalty  to 
American  institutions.  Long  live  America." 

It  was  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  appeared  on  the  after-gangplank 
to  accept  the  tablet  that  the  crowds  swept  him  off  his  feet.  As  he 
came  down  the  gangplank  the  cheering  redoubled,  and  a  party  of 
college  boys  from  Stevens  Institute,  in  Hoboken,  let  loose  their  yell. 
On  the  way  across  the  pier  the  lines  of  police  escorting  Mr.  Roose 
velt  were  broken  through  and  the  ex-President  was  swept  toward 
the  tablet  by  the  crush.  The  crowd  closed  in  solidly  behind  him, 
and  while  the  police  were  endeavoring  to  fight  off  the  on- rush,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  asked  the  speakers  to  cut  the  presentation  ceremony  short. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  in  reply  said: 

"I  appreciate  this  very  much.  I  want  to  thank  you  all.  I  can 
not  tell  you  how  deeply  touched  I  am." 


OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE.  213 

Mr.  Roosevelt  gave  directions  that  the  tablet  be  sent  to  Mrs. 
Roosevelt  and  turned  back  toward  the  ship.  The  police  did  their 
best  to  clear  a  way  for  him,  but  the  crowd  became  demonstrative. 
Two  policemen  were  knocked  off  their  feet,  but  were  not  injured. 
As  he  neared  the  gangplank  Mr.  Roosevelt's  hat  flew  off  and  the 
vacuum  bottle  which  had  been  presented  to  him  was  knocked  from 
his  hand.  He  bowed  his  thanks  when  the  articles  were  returned  to 
him  and  smilingly  called  "I  am  all  right." 

Everywhere  he  moved  outside  his  apartments  Mr.  Roosevelt 
could  not  escape  the  leave  takers.  More  than  once  he  was  nearly 
jostled  off  his  feet,  and  on  one  occasion  was  saved  by  a  policeman 
from  a  fall  at  the  edge  of  a  short  flight  of  steps. 

HOME-FOLKS'  GOOD-BYE. 

Former  President  Roosevelt's  departure  from  his  home  town 
at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  2$d  was  marked  by  an  enthusiastic 
gathering  of  his  fellow-citizens  at  the  station  to  bid  him  Godspeed. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  shook  hands  with  those  who  pressed  about  him  for  a 
parting  greeting,  and  there  was  a  lusty  cheer  as  the  train  moved 
out. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  up  with  the  sun  and  immediately  all  was 
astir  at  Sagamore  Hill  making  ready  for  the  three-mile  drive  to  the 
station.  Kermit  appeared  alternately  happy  at  the  prospect  of  an 
exciting  trip  and  not  a  little  dejected  at  leaving  home. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  bade  good-bye  to  the  family  at  the  house  and 
drove  down  to  the  station  with  Kermit  and  little  Quentin,  who  sat. 
on  the  front  seat  with  Noah  Seaman,  the  family  driver. 

At  the  station  Mr.  Roosevelt  kissed  Quentin  good-bye  and  there 
was  a  hint  of  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he  said  farewell.  He  shook  hands 
warmly  with  his  driver  and  patted  the  neck  of  old  Rustin,  the  family 
horse.  "He  is  a  bully  good  fellow,"  he  said  as  he  caressed  the 
animal. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  Jr.,  did  not  go  to  Hoboken  to  see  his  father 
embark  for  Africa.  He  spent  Sunday  at  Oyster  Bay  and  returned 
to  Thompsonville,  Conn.,  the  following  morning  and  was  at  his 
duties  in  the  carpet  works  when  his  father  and  brother  sailed. 


216  OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

Former  President  Roosevelt  spent  the  better  part  of  the  after 
noon,  his  first  few  hours  at  sea,  in  resting  from  the  fatigue  of  his 
strenuous  departure. 

The  weather  was  clear  and  balmy,  the  sea  smooth,  and  alto 
gether  the  day  was  such  a  one  as  would  tempt  the  sea-voyager  to 
the  deck  and  open  air.  But  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  risen  early  and 
had  passed  through  a  most  tiring  though  pleasing  experience,  so  he 
decided,  after  luncheon,  to  seek  the  seclusion  of  his  stateroom. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  and  the  other  members  of  the  party  spent  the 
afternoon  in  the  open,  resting  in  deck  chairs. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  party  had  luncheon  and  dinner  at  Captain 
Burmeister's  table.  At  both  meals  the  ex-President's  expedition 
into  Africa  was  the  chief  topic. 

The  voyage  was  uneventful  save  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  in 
serious  danger  off  Ponta  Delgada,  in  the  Azores. 

NARROW  ESCAPE  IN  AZORES. 

A  great  wave  swept  him  into  the  sea  from  a  small  boat,  in 
which  he  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  that  city. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  patriotism  placed  him  in  danger.  He  had  been 
visiting  the  American  Consul  at  Ponta  Delgada,  and  as  the  small 
boat  neared  the  side  of  the  liner  on  the  return  trip  the  band  struck 
up  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

The  former  President  rose  and  bared  his  head  in  respect  for 
the  anthem.  Two  sailors  held  him,  for  the  sea  was  running  high 
and  choppy.  As  the  national  hymn  ended  the  boat  was  pitching 
beside  the  Hamburg,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  made  a  flying  leap  for  the 
rope  ladder  that  dangled  from  the  side  of  the  vessel. 

Just  then  the  big  wave  tossed  the  boat,  threw  him  from  his 
balance  and  he  went  into  the  sea.  He  is  a  sturdy  swimmer,  but 
might  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it  in  the  rough  water  if  the  succeed 
ing  wave  hadn't  tossed  him  up  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  rope  ladder. 
The  seamen  who  were  hanging  to  that  grabbed  his  arms  and  held 
him  until  he  got  a  grip  on  the  lowest  rung  and  clambered  up. 

He  went  at  once  to  his  cabin  and  took  off  his  wet  clothing.    His 


OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE.  217 

fellow-passengers  gave  him  a  rousing  cheer  when  he  appeared 
again  at  dinner. 

Another  incident,  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  enjoyed  even  less  than 
his  ducking,  was  an  attack  of  seasickness  which  seized  him. 
Throughout  the  day  the  sea  ran  high,  and  the  liner  pitched  consider 
ably. 

With  the  familiar  pallor  of  mal-de-mar,  he  retired  from  deck 
during  the  afternoon  and  was  not  interested  in  the  dinner  call.  He 
did  not  appear  in  the  dining-room,  nor  was  there  any  meal  sent  to 
his  cabin.  He  recovered  sufficiently  at  9  o'clock,  however,  to  attend 
the  ball  and  dance. 

KERMIT  STARTS  A  ROMANCE. 

Romance-loving  passengers  aboard  the  Hamburg  watched 
with  great  interest  the  progress  of  warm  friendship  which  had 
sprung  up  between  Kermit  Roosevelt,  the  former  President's  son, 
and  Miss  Ruth  Draper,  a  member  of  an  old  Massachusetts  family 
and  a  niece  of  the  late  Charles  A.  Dana,  the  editor. 

There  was  a  ball  Saturday  night.  Kermit  danced  several  times 
with  Miss  Draper.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  one  dance  was  with  that  charm 
ing  young  woman.  Kermit  was  her  partner  in  some  gymkana  games 
held  on  deck  later,  and  saw  that  she  won  some  of  the  prizes.  He 
strolled  with  her  many  times,  too.  His  father  looked  on  smilingly. 

No  more  unassuming  passengers  than  Colonel  Roosevelt  ever 
sailed  the  seas.  So  subdued  of  demeanor  has  he  been,  indeed,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  identify  him  with  his  former  torrential  personality. 

Notwithstanding  his  insistence  that  he  is  now  merely  a  private 
citizen,  the  Royal  Italian  Immigration  Commissioner  insisted  on 
giving  up  his  seat  at  the  Captain's  right;  but,  barring  the  usual 
number  of  amateur  photographers  and  autograph  hunters,  with  all 
whose  requests  Mr.  Roosevelt  complied,  the  passengers  as  a  whole 
recognized  his  evident  desire  to  be  treated  merely  as  a  fellow- 
traveler.  The  popularity  of  this  new  role  was  attested  by  the  ani 
mated  groups  which  gathered  each  evening  on  deck  and  in  the  draw 
ing  room — groups  of  which  he  was  the  centre. 

A  brief  stop  was  made  at  Gibraltar,  where  the  Roosevelt  party 


£18  OFF  FOR  THE  AFRICAN  JUNGLE. 

disembarked  for  a  short  tour  of  the  fortifications,  and  another  at 
Naples,  where  the  former  President,  after  a  warm  greeting  from 
the  Neapolitans,  left  the  steamer  Hamburg  for  the  Admiral,  which 
was  to  carry  him  to  East  Africa. 

The  following  day,  April  6,  the  Admiral  dropped  anchor  in 
the  harbor  of  shattered  Messina,  where  Mr.  Roosevelt  visited  the 
Italian  battleship  Re  Umberto  as  the  guest  of  Victor  Emmanuel  II, 
King  of  Italy,  who  wished  to  personally  thank  the  former  President 
for  the  generous  aid  and  sympathy  extended  by  America  to  the 
survivors  of  the  great  earthquake  of  the  previous  winter. 

The  King  then  acted  as  Mr.  Roosevelt's  pilot  through  the  ruins 
of  the  once  majestic  city.  Everywhere  the  American  was  met  by 
as  enthusiastic  a  greeting  as  the  destitute  survivors  were  capable. 
Their  gratitude  for  his  efforts  toward  the  amelioration  of  their 
misery  was  unbounded,  and  it  was  with  tears  of  joy  in  his  eyes  that 
the  former  President  saw  the  evidences  of  good  work  that  American 
dollars  had  done  in  that  great  emergency. 

The  Admiral  reached  Port  Said,  the  Mediterranean  entrance 
to  the  Suez  Canal,  on  the  evening  of  April  9,  passed  Suez,  the 
eastern  terminus,  the  next  night,  and  Aden,  Arabia,  on  the  I4th. 

The  party  sighted  Mombasa,  British  East  Africa,  on  the  even 
ing  of  April  21,  eager  for  the  hunt  that  awaited  them. 

At  last  the  former  President's  great  ambition,  to  shoot  big 
game,  was  on  the  eve  of  realization. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

GREAT  PREPARATIONS  AT  MOMBASA — BRITONS  TAKE  SPECIAL  PRE 
CAUTIONS — THE  TRIP  TO  THE  JUNGLE — SLEEPS  TO  Music  OF 
LIONS'  ROARS — AT  Ju  JA  RANCH — ON  THE  KAPITI  PLAINS — 
THE  HUNT  BEGINS. 

HP  HE  preparations  for  the  reception  at  Mombasa  of  Theodore 
^  Roosevelt  had  long  been  in  a  state  of  completion.  Sir  James 
Hayes  Sadler,  Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  protector 
ate,  who  had  been  transferred  suddenly  to  the  Windward  Islands, 
was  very  much  disappointed  that  he  was  not  able  to  receive  the 
former  President  of  the  United  States.  This  duty  devolved  upon 
Frederick  John  Jackson,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  protectorate. 
Mr.  Jackson  is  a  famous  sportsman  and  the  author  of  the  book  on 
big  game  in  the  Badminton  Library  series. 

There  were  amusing  phases  to  the  expectancy  with  which  the 
arrival  of  Col.  Roosevelt  was  awaited.  Since  the  advent  of  the 
rains  lions  had  been  terrifying  the  natives  within  four  miles  of 
Kilindini.  An  elephant  that  evidently  had  strayed  from  a  herd  made 
its  way  into  the  bazaar  at  Masingi  and  played  havoc.  The  natives 
at  Masingi  had  been  assured  that  they  need  have  no  further  fear, 
as  Col.  Roosevelt  is  on  his  way  to  the  protectorate  to  hunt. 

They  were  awaiting  Col.  Roosevelt's  arrival  contentedly. 

Packages  addressed  to  Col.  Roosevelt  had  been  arriving  out  on 
every  steamer  from  London.  They  came  principally  from  British 
firms  in  the  export  business. 

A  cablegram  had  been  sent  to  Col.  Roosevelt  at  Aden  inviting 
him  to  be  the  guest  of  the  citizens  of  Mombasa  at  dinner  on  St. 
George's  Day,  April  23.  This  at  first  was  declined,  but  finally  was 
accepted  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  tendered. 

R.  J.  Cunninghame,  a  widely  known  hunter  and  field  naturalist, 
who  was  to  manage  the  Roosevelt  expedition,  completed  his  prepara- 


220  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

tion  with  much  secrecy.  He  had  not  been  seen  in  or  about  Nairobi 
for  a  fortnight. 

The  government  even  constructed  a  new  road  to  facilitate  the 
landing  of  the  Roosevelt  party  at  Kilindini,  the  landing  place  for 
Mombasa. 

The  steamer  Melbourne,  of  the  Messageries  Lines,  went  on  a 
reef  in  the  harbor  just  before  Col.  Roosevelt's  arrival.  It  was 
feared  for  a  time  that  she  would  block  the  entrance  to  the  steamer 
Admiral,  but  the  steamer  Oxus  came  in  later  and  succeeded  in  pull 
ing  her  off  without  damage. 

The  Colonial  Office  in  London  had  issued  instructions  to  the 
Governor  of  the  protectorate  to  surround  Col.  Roosevelt  on  his 
hunting  trips  with  every  possible  precaution  for  his  safety,  since 
the  mullahs  of  the  Somalis  inhabiting  the  desert  country  north  of 
the  protectorate  were  reported  to  be  showing  further  signs  of  unrest, 
and  were  massing  on  the  northern  boundary  of  Kenya  province. 

TROUBLE  WAS  FEARED. 

This  restlessness  first  became  evident  some  six  months  before, 
and  there  had  been  apprehension  of  trouble  in  the  dry  season,  when 
travel  over  the  trails  is  easier. 

This  northern  district  always  has  been  a  territory  to  watch 
closely. 

When  the  natives  do  go  out  for  trouble  they  generally  bear  to 
the  westward  in  the  direction  of  the  settled  districts  and  the  good 
hunting  grounds. 

There  was  therefore  some  local  anxiety,  particularly  as  a 
majority  of  the  protectorate  groups  were  at  Berbera,  in  British 
Somaliland. 

Sir  H.  Hesketh-Bell,  Governor  and  commander-in-chief  of 
Uganda,  having  left  Uganda  April  28  for  England,  Col.  Roosevelt 
and  his  party  were  first  received  in  Uganda  by  S.  C.  Tomkins,  one 
of  the  provincial  commissioners. 

It  had  been  decided  that  Kermit  Roosevelt  was  to  take  a  num 
ber  of  short  separate  hunting  trips  v*ith  a  Portuguese  hunter. 

For  the  first  fortnight  of  their  stay  the  Roosevelt  party  were 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  221 

the  guests  at  Athi  River  of  Sir  Alfred  Pease,  a  well-known  hunter, 
who  has  a  large  estate  at  Kilina  Theki.  The  second  fortnight  they 
were  the  guests  of  George  McMillan  at  Ju  Ja  ranch. 

A  local  hunter  had  recently  secured  in  the  cannibal  country 
an  elephant  whose  tusks  weighed  290  pounds.  When  Col.  Roosevelt 
heard  this  he  almost  jumped  for  joy.  "That  promises  good  sport," 
he  laughed. 

Meanwhile,  all  the  town  was  on  the  qui  vive. 

The  manager  of  the  railroad  had  come  down  from  Nairobi. 
The  superintendent  of  traffic  also  was  there,  and  both  officials  went 
on  the  special  train  that  took  Col.  Roosevelt  and  his  party  inland. 
Col.  Roosevelt  also  was  accompanied  on  this  journey  by  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  protectorate. 

Natives  were  coming  into  Mombasa  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  to  witness  the  disembarkation  of  the  "Great  White  Chief." 
The  rains  were  increasing,  but  there  had  been  a  decrease  in  the 
smallpox  cases  in  the  interior. 

FEAR   PROVED   UNFOUNDED. 

It  was  feared  that  the  unusually  heavy  rains  so  late  in  the 
wet  season  would  interfere  greatly  with  the  first  part  of  Col.  Roose 
velt's  stay  in  the  protectorate.  But  this  fear  proved  to  be  unfounded. 
The  sky  was  clear  and  the  climate,  despite  the  equatorial  sun,  cool 
and  invigorating. 

The  actual  route  which  Col.  Roosevelt  was  to  follow  had  not 
been  definitely  decided  upon,  but  it  was  finally  settled  that  several 
different  trails  should  be  taken  from  Nairobi  as  headquarters. 

Baron  Tallian  de  Vizek,  a  famous  Hungarian  hunter,  who  had 
just  passed  through  Mombasa  returning  home,  reported  that  big 
game  prospects  were  good.  His  party  went  from  Nairobi  to  the 
west  and  traveled  across  the  Athi  plains  to  the  Athi  River,  thence 
to  Mount  Donyo  Sabuk  as  far  as  the  Upper  Tana  River. 

He  reported  common  antelope  and  zebra  plentiful,  but  when 
stalking  elands  and  gnu  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Dwiniaro  he  was 
interfered  with  by  rhinoceri. 

Again  Col.  Roosevelt  laughed  gleefully.    Turning  to  Kermit 


222  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

he  chuckled:  "Guess  we  won't  have  our  trip  for  nothing,  eh, 
Kermit!"  Indeed,  from  the  moment  his  eyes  first  landed  on  the 
jungle,  the  former  President  seemed  the  very  personification  of 
glee. 

A  fortnight  before  when  Baron  de  Vizek  attempted  to  avoid 
rhinoceri  on  his  right,  he  found  another  crowd  on  his  left  and 
seven  in  front.  Being  anxious  to  secure  a  bull  eland  holding  the 
finest  head  he  had  seen,  the  Baron  had  no  option  but  to  push  for 
ward,  a  movement  which  two  old  rhino  bulls  resented.  They 
charged  viciously  and  gave  the  hunter  no  opportunity  of  evading 
them.  The  Baron  expressed  regret  that  he  was  obliged  to  sacrifice 
them,  as  he  had  already  secured  better  heads. 

Apart  from  the  rhinoceros  nuisance  he  recommended  this  route, 
especially  for  elands,  giraffes  and  hippopotami,  which  latter  gave 
him  great  sport  on  the  Tana.  Lions  were  met  on  several  occasions. 

GREAT  GROUP  OF  LIONS  FOUND. 

The  report  of  a  record  group  of  lions  on  the  Nandi  Plateau 
and  elephants  in  the  Elburgon  forest  also  was  confirmed,  greatly 
to  the  glee  of  the  American. 

British  East  Africa  and  Uganda  have  entertained  probably 
more  "great"  people  within  five  years  than  any  other  portion  of 
the  British  Empire.  Royal  reigning  dukes,  brothers  and  cousins 
of  kings  and  emperors,  British  and  Continental  statesmen  of  high 
degree,  all  have  received  that  unostentatious  but  genuine  welcome 
which  characterizes  colonial  peoples. 

The  occasion  of  Ex-President  Roosevelt's  visit  was  unique  in 
the  fact  that  he  was  the  first  famous  American  statesman  to  set 
foot  in  East  Africa. 

The  people  who  are  pioneers  in  what  once  was  "Darkest 
Africa"  are  of  a  different  stamp  to  the  pioneers  who  made  Canada 
and  Australia  what  they  are.  The  British  East  Africa  colonist  has 
been  drawn  chiefly  from  the  hardier  of  Great  Britain's  aristocracy 
and  from  the  educated  middle  classes.  All  are  sportsmen  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term ;  all  are  men  with  whom  the  Ex- President  imme 
diately  could  be  on  friendly  terms.  There  was  no  crowding  on  the 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  223 

privacy  of  a  visitor  when  once  the  shoot  commenced,  nor  any 
unsportsmanlike  attempt  to  spoil  a  sport  by  following  close  on  the 
party's  track. 

The  route  when  finally  mapped  out  for  Col.  Roosevelt  was  his 
route  and  his  route  alone;  other  big  game  sportsmen  and  inland 
traders  respected  that  route  as  if  it  were  a  drive  in  a  private  park. 

Kilindini  Harbor  (the  place  of  deep  waters)  was  the  port  of 
debarkation,  and  Mombasa  (the  place  of  war)  was  the  place  of 
residence,  where  the  distinguished  visitor  was  able  to  do  the  "sight 
seeing"  of  which  he  wrote  to  the  Boston  League  of  Mercy. 

He  also  visited  Freretown  (the  place  of  freedom)  where  only 
a  few  years  ago  the  decree  of  the  late  Sultan  of  Zanzibar  was  read, 
forbidding  the  continuance  of  slavery.  He  was  able  to  stand  on 
the  spot  where,  even  in  the  time  of  his  own  youth,  wretched  slaves, 
raided  in  the  fiercest  manner  by  the  famous  Arab  chief,  Tippu-Tip, 
were  put  up  for  auction  as  goods  and  chattels  and  eagerly  pur 
chased  by  the  old  Mombasa  Arabs,  many  of  whom  are  living  in 
ease  now  on  their  ill-gotten  gains. 

MASSIVE  FORT  OF  OLDEN  AGE. 

The  massive  fort  begun  by  the  Arab  conquerors  in  the  seventh 
century,  and  finished  by  the  Portuguese  in  the  days  of  Vasco  Da 
Gama,  also  was  visited.  Every  stone  was  laid  by  slaves  under  the 
whips  of  their  masters,  and  for  every  stone  a  life  was  paid. 

Within  the  grim  walls  of  this  fort  history  has  been  written  in 
blood.  Nine  times  has  the  ownership  of  the  famous  edifice  changed 
hands.  First  the  Arab  and  then  the  white  man,  and  then  again  the 
Arab,  have  fought  hand  to  hand  within  its  walls,  until  the  time  of 
the  final  massacre.  This  was  when  Yussuf,  a  baptized  Arab, 
defeated  the  Portuguese  governor,  and  put  to  death  every  white 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  place. 

Col.  Roosevelt's  national  pride  was  deeply  stirred  when  he 
inspected  the  locomotives  that  were  to  carry  him  in  comfort  over 
the  continent  in  two  days,  on  a  journey  which  took  Stanley  three 
months  of  the  greatest  discomfort  and  personal  danger.  These 
locomotives  are  the  product  of  Philadelphia. 


224  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

Col.  Roosevelt  found  that  British  East  Africa  provides  food 
for  the  anthropologist  as  well  as  the  entomologist,  zoologist  and 
historian.  Each  great  native  tribe  is  bound  up  in  its  own  civiliza 
tion,  its  own  customs,  its  own  religions  and  its  own  physical  and 
mental  characteristics,  and  the  march  of  Western  civilization  can 
be  clearly  and  peculiarly  denoted  by  the  wearing  apparel,  or  its 
absence,  of  the  fashionable  native  women. 

At  the  coast  the  women  adopt  picturesque  costumes  of  fancy 
patterned  cotton  prints  and  huge  silver  hand-worked  anklets  of 
many  pounds  weight. 

In  the  highlands  around  Nakuru  the  fashions  change.  The 
dressed  skins  of  wild  game  displace  cotton  manufactures  and  roll 
upon  roll  of  bright  iron  and  copper  wire,  bound  tightly  around  the 
upper  and  nether  limbs,  complete  the  costume.  Then  again  in 
some  districts  wearing  apparel  is  exceedingly  scant. 

A  GRAND   RECEPTION. 

But  before  going  into  the  detail  of  the  hunt  it  may  be  well  to 
detail  the  great  reception  awarded  the  distinguished  visitor  at 
Mombasa. 

The  steamer  Admiral,  bearing  Col.  Roosevelt,  entered  Kilin- 
dini  harbor,  flying  the  American  flag  at  her  fore  and  main  masts. 
She  dipped  the  German  ensign  while  passing  the  British  cruiser 
Pandora,  whose  rails  and  masts  were  manned  by  cheering  sailors. 
The  Pandora  saluted  the  Ex-President,  who  was  on  the  bridge. 

The  first  word  of  the  sighting  of  the  Admiral  brought  the 
people  of  Mombasa  in  crowds  to  vantage  points,  where  they  might 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  distinguished  visitor. 

The  Admiral  came  slowly  up  to  the  harbor  and  it  was  dark 
when  Col.  Roosevelt,  his  son  Kermit  and  the  captain  were  brought 
ashore  in  the  commandant's  surfboat  and  carried  to  a  place  of 
shelter  in  chairs  on  natives'  shoulders. 

There  was  a  perfect  deluge  of  rain,  but  in  reply  to  the  expres 
sions  of  regret  at  this,  Col.  Roosevelt  said  he  was  glad  to  get  ashore 
in  any  weather.  He  added  that  he  was  in  splendid  health  and  that 
the  start  to  the  hunting  grounds  could  not  come  a  minute  too  soon. 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  225 

The  Governor's  aide  boarded  the  Admiral  and  extended  a  wel 
come  to  Col.  Roosevelt,  who  received  another  cordial  greeting  on 
shore  from  the  provincial  commissioner,  who  conducted  him  to  the 
government  house. 

R.  F.  Cunninghame,  the  hunter  and  field  naturalist,  who  had 
charge  of  the  preparations  for  the  expedition,  also  was  on  hand  at 
the  pier. 

Col.  Roosevelt  was  pleased  highly  when  he  observed  the  mili 
tary  guard  drawn  up.  He  replied  to  the  salute  by  doffing  his  hat 
and  smiling  broadly.  The  crowds  pressing  forward  to  see  the  noted 
American  included  Europeans,  Indians  and  natives,  and  presented 
a  picturesque  appearance.  While  genuinely  hearty  in  their  welcome, 
the  people  were  not  demonstrative. 

CAPTAIN  DINES   ROOSEVELT. 

The  week's  voyage  from  Aden  was  interrupted  only  by  a  short 
stop  at  Mogadiscio,  in  Italian  Somaliland.  A  feature  of  the  trip 
was  the  captain's  dinner  to  Col.  Roosevelt.  The  saloon  was  deco 
rated  artistically  and  much  enthusiasm  was  shown  over  the  speeches, 
which  were  exchanged  in  good  fellowship. 

In  toasting  the  Ex-President  the  Captain  wished  him  Godspeed 
and  a  safe  return  to  the  United  States.  Col.  Roosevelt  replied,  first 
in  English  and  then  in  German  and  French. 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  Ex-President  to  remain  in 
Mombasa  two  days,  but  the  floods  had  been  heavy,  and  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  change  this  plan.  The  special  train,  which  was  to 
carry  Col.  Roosevelt  and  his  party  to  Sir  Alfred  Pease's  ranch  on 
the  Athi  River,  left  at  2.  o'clock  the  next  afternoon. 

The  acting  Governor  of  the  protectorate,  Frederick  J.  Jackson, 
entertained  the  Ex-President  at  dinner  and  later  they  proceeded  to 
one  of  the  clubs.  The  Roosevelt  party  were  taken  in  carriages  about 
the  town  the  following  morning,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  the  Gov 
ernor  and  his  associates  strove  to  meet  the  special  instructions  from 
King  Edward  to  show  every  consideration  to  the  distinguished 
traveler.  F.  C.  Selous,  the  English  hunter,  was  also  a  guest  at  the 

15— M.I,. 


226  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

dinner.  He  accompanied  Col.  Roosevelt  on  his  first  shooting  expe 
dition  at  the  Pease  ranch. 

Col.  Roosevelt  and  the  members  of  his  party  left  Mombasa  on 
a  special  train  at  2.30  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  22d  for  Kapiti 
Plains  Station,  whence^  they  were  conveyed  to  the  ranch  of  Sir 
Alfred  Pease  for  their  first  shooting  trip.  The  party  was  accom 
panied  by  F.  J.  Jackson,  acting  Governor  of  the  protectorate. 

Before  leaving  Col.  Roosevelt  telegraphed  to  King  Edward, 
thanking  him  for  the  message  of  greeting  read  by  Mr.  Jackson  at 
the  dinner  given  in  Col.  Roosevelt's  honor  at  the  Mombasa  Club 
the  preceding  night. 

A  guard  of  honor  composed  of  marines  and  blue  jackets  from 
the  Pandora  was  at  the  railroad  station  when  the  Roosevelt  party 
arrived,  and  was  inspected  by  Col.  Roosevelt.  A  number  of  officials 
and  civilians  also  were  present,  and  the  station  building  was 
decorated  with  flags. 

LEFT  THE   BIG   STICK  AT   HOME. 

Col.  Roosevelt  spent  the  morning  at  the  Government  House, 
where  he  was  the  guest  the  preceding  night  of  Mr.  Jackson. 

From  Mombasa  Col.  Roosevelt  dispatched  a  cablegram  to  ,the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  saying: 

"I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  my  treatment  on  board 
the  German  steamship  Admiral,  under  Captain  Doherr,  and  my 
admiration  of  the  astounding  energy  and  growth  of  the  mercantile 
and  colonial  interests  of  Germany  in  East  Africa." 

At  the  banquet  Mr.  Jackson  said  that  the  Ex-President  had 
left  the  "Big  Stick"  at  home,  and  after  seven  strenuous  years  as 
President  of  the  United  States  had  come  out  to  Africa  to  make  use 
of  the  rifle.  In  conclusion  he  promised  the  distinguished  visitor  an 
immense  variety  of  game  and  good  sport. 

When  Col.  Roosevelt  arose  to  reply  he  was  enthusiastically 
received  with  full  Highland  musical  honors.  He  began  with  a 
tribute  to  the  British  people  for  their  energy  and  genius  in  civiliz 
ing  the  uncivilized  places  of  the  earth.  He  said  he  was  surprised 
at  what  he  had  heard  of  the  progress  of  British  East  Africa,  but 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  221 

he  warned  his  hearers  that  they  could  not  expect  to  achieve  in  a 
short  time  what  it  had  taken  America  twenty  generations  to  accom 
plish.  He  then  emphasized  the  necessity  of  leaving  local  questions 
to  be  solved  by  the  authorities  on  the  spot,  and  commented  on  the 
fact  that  the  people  at  home  knew  little  of  affairs  abroad.  In  this 
connection  he  instanced  the  United  States  and  the  Philippine  Islands. 
Continuing,  Col.  Roosevelt  expressed  his  great  pleasure  at  the 
welcome  given  him  by  the  British  cruiser  Pandora,  whose  rails  and 
masts  were  manned  by  cheering  sailors  when  the  Admiral  came  into 
the  harbor.  He  said  he  believed  in  peace,  but  considered  that 
strength  meant  peace,  and  he  hoped  that  all  the  great  nations  would 
provide  themselves  with  this  means  to  the  end. 

LULLED  TO  SLEEP  BY  LION  ROARS. 

He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Selous,  who  expressed  the  hope  that 
Col.  Roosevelt  would  in  the  future  use  the  power  of  his  position  to 
bring  about  an  entente  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany. 

The  following  night  Col.  Roosevelt  reached  the  hunting 
grounds  and  slept  to  the  music  of  the  roaring  of  lions  in  the  nearby 
jungle.  Needless  to  say,  his  joy  was  unbounded  at  spending  his 
first  night  in  Africa  under  canvas. 

A  big  camp  had  been  established  near  the  railroad  station  for 
the  expedition,  and  lions  were  prowling  about  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
tents.  The  country  was  green,  owing  to  the  recent  rains,  and  there 
was  every  prospect  of  good  sport.  The  commoner  varieties  of  game 
were  very  plentiful,  and  the  huntsmen  lost  no  time  in  getting  started 
on  their  shooting  trips. 

The  special  train  bearing  the  Roosevelt  party  from  Mombasa 
arrived  at  Kapiti  Plains  at  half  past  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Only  the  members  of  the  party  got  off  at  Kapiti  Plains.  F.  J. 
Jackson,  the  Acting  Governor  of  the  protectorate,  and  the  other 
officials  who  came  up  from  Mombasa  continued  on  to  Nairobi. 

The  camp  established  for  Roosevelt  was  most  elaborate.  The 
caravan  had  a  total  of  260  followers.  There  were  thirteen  tents 
for  the  Europeans  and  their  horses  and  sixty  tents  for  the  porters. 

An  American  flag  was  flying  over  the  tent  occupied  by  Col. 


228  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

Roosevelt.  All  the  native  porters  of  the  expedition  were  lined  up 
on  the  platform  when  the  Roosevelt  special  pulled  in,  and  as  the 
Ex-President  stepped  down  from  the  train  they  shouted  a  salute  in 
his  honor.  In  response  Col.  Roosevelt  raised  his  hat. 

Col.  Roosevelt  was  welcomed  at  the  station  by  Sir  Alfred  Pease, 
who  was  his  host  on  the  Athi  River.  Col.  Roosevelt  was  dressed 
in  a  khaki  suit  and  a  white  helmet.  The  weather  was  bright  and 
warm. 

Col.  Roosevelt,  F.  J.  Jackson,  F.  C.  Selous  and  Major  Mearns 
rode  on  a  broad  seat  attached  to  the  cow  catcher  of  the  locomotive 
from  Mombasa  as  far  as  Mackinnon  road,  a  distance  of  about  50 
miles.  The  visitors  were  delighted  with  this  experience,  and  the 
Ex-President  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  marvelous  scenery 
that  unfolded  itself  to  his  view. 

SEE   GAME  FROM   TRAIN. 

They  had  a  magnificent  view  of  snow-capped  Kilimanjaro. 
Plenty  of  game  was  seen  from  the  train,  including  about  twenty 
giraffes,  with  their  young,  close  to  the  line;  wildebeestes,  hart'e- 
beestes,  waterbucks,  zebras,  duikers,  guinea  fowl,  ostriches  in  great 
number,  and  one  rhinoceros. 

The  other  passengers  on  the  special  train  included  Mr.  Sandi- 
ford,  local  superintendent  of  the  railroad  line;  Mr.  Cruikshank,  the 
traffic  manager;  W.  J.  Monson,  secretary  of  the  administration;  J. 
H.  Wilson,  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and  R.  F.  Cun- 
ninghame,  the  manager  of  the  Roosevelt  expedition. 

The  party  planned  to  have  several  days  in  camp  before  going 
on  to  Nairobi.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  visit  with  Sir  Alfred  Pease 
Col.  Roosevelt  was  to  go  to  the  Ju  Ja  ranch  and  be  the  guest  of 
George  McMillan.  After  this  he  designed  to  shoot  buffalo  at  Hugh 
Heatley's  kamid  ranch,  fifteen  miles  from  Nairobi,  on  the  Forthall 
road. 

Before  leaving  Mombasa  Col.  Roosevelt  received  an  address  of 
welcome  from  the  American  missionaries.  He  wished  to  visit  at 
least  three  mission  stations  while  in  the  protectorate. 

After  a  short  hunting  expedition  at  Kapiti  Plains,  Ex-Presi- 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  229 

dent  Roosevelt  and  his  party  broke  camp  and  started  for  the  ranch 
of  Sir  Alfred  Pease,  on  the  Athi  River. 

Col.  Roosevelt  spent  part  of  the  previous  afternoon  sorting 
his  kit,  while  Kermit  and  several  of  the  men  went  to  try  their  luck 
with  the  rifles.  An  old  settler,  who  seemed  to  take  a  liking  to 
Kermit,  offered  to  show  him  a  likely  place  for  good  sport.  They 
succeeded  in  bringing  down  one  buck. 

ROOSEVELT  SHOOTS  A  THOMPSON'S   GAZELLE. 

Col.  Roosevelt's  first  hunt  was  favored  by  fine  weather,  and  he 
enjoyed  the  experience  immensely.  He  bagged  two  wildebeests 
and  a  Thompson's  gazelle. 

In  one  respect  Col.  Roosevelt  was  somewhat  disappointed,  as 
he  had  been  anxious  to  secure  a  Grant's  gazelle,  whose  massive 
horns  are  much  sought  after  for  trophies.  The  hunt  lasted  several 
hours  and  all  the  members  of  the  party  were  tired  out  when  they 
returned  to  camp. 

Smallpox  was  prevalent  at  Nairobi,  and  several  cases  developed 
among  the  porters  at  Kapiti.  These  were  quarantined  and  the 
strictest  precautions  were  observed  to  prevent  a  spread  of  the  dis 
ease  among  those  attached  to  the  Roosevelt  party.  The  danger  of 
this,  however,  was  considered  slight. 

The  police  still  maintained  their  measures  for  the  protection 
of  the  American  from  annoyance.  They  would  not  permit  any 
except  those  designated  by  Col.  Roosevelt  to  go  with  the  expedition. 
It  had  been  definitely  learned  that  none  of  Col.  Roosevelt's  baggage 
was  missing  and  that  nothing  had  been  stolen  as  at  first  was  feared. 

The  wildebeests,  of  which  Col.  Roosevelt  killed  two,  are  gen 
erally  known  as  the  gnu,  the  Hottentot  name.  This  animal  is  of 
a  sub- family  of  antelopes  and  resembles  a  "horned  horse."  The 
mane  and  tail  are  like  a  horse's.  The  legs  are  slender  as  those  of 
the  gazelle.  These  animals,  when  captured  young,  may  be  tamed, 
but  if  caught  at  a  mature  age,  they  behave  like  mad  in  captivity. 

When  chased  on  horseback  they  often  give  the  pursuer  a  lively 
time  on  account  of  their  endurance  and  great  speed.  The  young 
are  playful  and  will  circle  around  a  caravan  for  hours  showing  a 


230  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

marked  curiosity  in  everything  the  traveler  is  doing.  The  flesh  of 
the  gnu  is  palatable  and  the  horns  are  made  into  knife  handles  and 
other  articles. 

The  Thompson  gazelle  which  Col.  Roosevelt  shot  and  the 
Grant's  gazelle  which  he  failed  to  get,  are  members  of  a  large 
family.  The  gazelle  is  one  of  the  most  graceful  animals  known.  Its 
eyes  are  large  and  liquid  and  the  poets  of  the  East  always  likened 
the  eyes  of  their  lady  loves  to  them.  The  animal  is  often  hunted 
with  greyhounds  and  falcons. 

When  hunted  with  dogs  alone  the  gazelle  easily  outstrips  the 
pursuit  running  swiftly  and  making  tremendous  leaps  over  obstacles 
ten  feet  high  without  apparent  exertion.  When  a  falcon  is  used 
the  bird  will  rise  high  in  the  air  and  swoop  down  on  its  quarry, 
fixing  its  talons  near  the  long,  lyre-shaped  horns  and  harass  the 
animal  till  the  hounds  come  up. 

LION-SLAYING   RECORDS   BROKEN. 

There  are  many  species  of  the  gazelle,  ranging  from  three  feet 
in  height  to  five  and  six  feet.  The  springbok  is  one  of  the  largest 
species  and  it  is  known  to  make  vertical  jumps  in  the  air  with  its 
legs  folded. 

Before  Col.  Roosevelt  had  been  in  Africa  a  week,  he  had 
broken  all  records  for  lion  killing  in  the  British  protectorate. 

The  caravan  started  early  Thursday  morning  from  the  ranch 
of  Sir  Alfred  Pease,  on  the  Athi  River,  and  proceeded  slowly  to 
the  Mau  Hills.  This  range  is  open  for  wide  areas,  but  in  places 
is  covered  with  dense  growths  where  game  is  plentiful.  The  first 
night  in  camp  was  without  especial  incident,  no  attempt  being  made 
to  go  after  lions,  although  their  call  was  heard  now  and  then  during 
the  course  of  the  night,  but  at  dawn  the  camp  was  astir  and  the 
drive  speedily  organized. 

The  scene  was  beautiful  beyond  human  power  of  description. 
Far  off  to  the  north,  but  because  of  its  great  altitude  seeming  but 
a  few  miles  away,  majestic  Mount  Kenya  reared  its  snow-capped 
peak  eighteen  thousand  feet  into  the  heavens.  Its  gently  sloping 
sides,  rising  from  the  tropical  jungles  and  topped  by  its  crown  of 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  231 

eternal  ice,  seemed  a  world  in  itself,  are  clothed  in  successive,  con 
centric  belts,  with  every  kind  of  crop  and  climate  known  in  the 
world,  from  the  equator  to  the  Arctic  circle. 

Unawed  by  the  magnificent  spectacle,  the  native  beaters  set 
out  in  all  directions  under  the  instruction  of  the  "head  man,"  armed 
with  all  sorts  of  noise-making  devices,  which  could  not  but  arouse 
any  game  within  earshot.  Some  of  the  beats  proved  blanks,  but  by 
nightfall  no  less  than  ten  kinds  of  game  had  been  bagged.  Mr. 
Selous  accompanied  Col.  Roosevelt. 

As  a  rule  the  beaters  go  into  the  jungle  with  considerable  trepi 
dation,  but  as  Col.  Roosevelt's  reputation  as  a  hunter  had  reached 
Africa  long  before  he  arrived  in  person,  the  beaters  on  this  occasion 
were  exceptionally  enthusiastic.  They  seemed  even  eager  to  play 
a  part  in  the  first  hunt  of  the  distinguished  American. 

Kermit  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day  did  more  effective 
work  with  his  camera  than  he  did  with  his  gun,  he  and  the  other 
members  of  the  party  allowing  Col.  Roosevelt  the  much  prized  shots. 

FOUR  LIONS  IN   ONE  DAY. 

Four  lions  were  trophies  of  Col.  Roosevelt's  camp  in  the  Mau 
Hills  that  night,  and  the  two  hundred  or  more  natives  were  joining 
with  the  American  party  in  the  celebration  of  the  unusually  good 
luck. 

Of  the  lions  bagged  Col.  Roosevelt's  gun  brought  three  to 
earth,  each  on  the  first  shot.  Thus  one  of  the  former  President's 
fondest  ambitions  had  been  realized,  and  he  was  proud,  too,  that 
the  fourth  of  the  jungle  kings  fell  before  the  rifle  of  his  son  Kermit, 
who,  however,  took  three  shots  to  kill  his  quarry. 

Both  father  and  son  were  jubilant.  It  was  their  first  lion  hunt, 
and  so  magnificent  a  kill  was  far  beyond  their  expectations. 

Col.  Roosevelt  was  living  up  to  the  reputation  which  he  had 
gained  of  being  a  crack  shot. 

All  of  the  lions  were  of  normal  size,  and  after  the  natives  had 
dragged  them  together  in  the  grass  they  executed  the  usual  dance 
around  the  trophies. 

The  details  of  the  hunt  differed  little  from  the  usual  procedure 


232  ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER. 

in  the  region.  It  may  be  interesting,  therefore,  to  read  what  the  Rt. 
Hon.  Winston  Churchill,  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies 
of  Great  Britain,  and  whose  visit  to  these  jungles  but  a  short  time 
preceded  Col.  Roosevelt's  has  to  say  of  lion  hunting  there. 

"Nothing  causes  the  East  African  colonist  more  genuine  con 
cern  than  that  his  guest  should  not  have  been  provided  with  a  lion. 
The  knowledge  preys  upon  his  mind  until  it  becomes  a  veritable 
obsession.  He  feels  some  deep  reproach  is  laid  upon  his  own  hos 
pitality  and  the  reputation  of  his  adopted  country.  How  to  find 
and,  having  found,  to  kill  a  lion  is  the  unvarying  theme  of  conversa 
tion  ;  and  every  place  and  every  journey  is  judged  by  a  simple  stand 
ard — 'lions  or  no  lions.' 

"At  the  Thika  camp,  then,  several  gentlemen,  accomplished  in 
this  important  sport,  have  come  together  with  ponies,  rifles,  Somalis 
and  all  the  other  accessories.  Some  zebras  and  kongoni  have  been 
killed  and  left  lying  in  likely  looking  places  to  attract  the  lions,  and 
at  4  A.  u.f  rain  or  shine,  we  are  to  go  and  look  for  them. 

WAYS  OF  LION  HUNTERS. 

"The  white  resident  hunter  cuts  a  hardy  figure.  His  clothes 
are  few  and  far  between;  a  sun  hat,  a  brown  flannel  shirt  with 
sleeves  cut  above  the  elbow  and  open  to  the  chest,  a  pair  of  thin 
khaki  knickerbockers  cut  short  five  inches — at  least — above  the 
knee,  boots  and  a  pair  of  putties  comprise  the  whole  attire.  Nothing 
else  is  worn.  The  skin,  exposed  to  sun,  thorns  and  insects,  becomes 
almost  as  dark  as  that  of  the  natives,  and  so  hardened  that  it  is 
nothing  to  ride  all  day  with  bare  knees  on  the  saddle — a  truly  Spar 
tan  discipline  from  which  at  least  the  visitor  may  be  excused. 

"This  is  the  way  in  which  they  hunt  lions.  First  find  the  lion, 
lured  to  a  kill,  driven  from  a  reed  bed  or  kicked  up  incontinently  by 
the  way.  Once  viewed,  he  must  never  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment. 
Mounted  on  ponies  of  more  or  less  approved  fidelity,  three  or  four 
daring  whites  or  Somalis  gallop  after  him  across  rocks,  holes,  tus 
socks,  nullahs,  through  high  grass,  thorn  scrub,  undergrowth,  turn 
ing  him,  shepherding  him,  heading  him  this  way  and  that,  until  he 
is  brought  to  bay. 


ROOSEVELT  THE  LION  SLAYER.  233 

"For  his  part  the  lion  is  no  seeker  of  quarrels;  he  is  often 
described  in  accents  of  contempt.  His  object  throughout  is  to  save 
his  skin.  If,  being  unarmed,  you  meet  six  or  seven  lions  unexpect 
edly,  all  you  need  do — according  to  my  information — is  to  speak 
to  them  sternly  and  they  will  slink  away,  while  you  throw  a  few 
stones  at  them  to  hurry  them  up. 

"But  when  pursued  from  place  to  place,  chased  hither  and 
thither  by  the  wheeling  horsemen,  the  naturally  mild  disposition 
of  the  lion  becomes  embittered.  First  he  begins  to  growl  and  roar 
at  his  enemies,  in  order  to  terrify  them  and  make  them  leave  him  in 
peace.  Then  he  darts  little  short  charges  at  them.  Finally,  when 
every  attempt  at  peaceful  persuasion  has  failed,  he  pulls  up  abruptly 
and  offers  battle. 

"Once  he  has  done  this  he  will  run  no  more.  He  means  to 
fight,  and  to  fight  to  the  death.  He  means  to  charge  home;  and 
when  a  lion,  maddened  with  the  agony  of  a  bullet  wound,  distressed 
by  long  and  hard  pursuit,  or,  most  of  all,  a  lioness  in  defense  of  her 
cubs,  is  definitely  committed  to  the  charge,  death  is  the  only  possible 
conclusion. 

"Broken  limbs,  broken  jaws,  a  body  raked  from  end  to  end, 
lungs  pierced  through  and  through,  entrails  torn  and  protruding — 
none  of  these  count.  It  must  be  death — instant  and  utter — for  the 
lion,  or  down  goes  the  man,  mauled  by  septic  claws  and  fetid  teeth, 
crushed  and  crunched,  and  poisoned  afterward  to  make  doubly  sure. 

"It  is  at  the  stage  when  the  lion  has  been  determinedly  "bayed" 
that  the  real  sportsman  is  usually  introduced  upon  the  scene.  He 
has, -we  may  imagine,  followed  the  riders  as  fast  as  the  inequalities 
of  the  ground,  his  own  want  of  training  and  the  burden  of  a  heavy 
rifle  will  allow  him.  He  arrives  at  the  spot  where  the  lion  is 
cornered  in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  matador  enters  the  arena, 
the  others  standing  aside  deferentially,  ready  to  aid  or  divert  the 
lion.  If  his  bullet  kills  he  is,  no  doubt,  justly  proud.  If  it  only 
wounds,  the  lion  charges  the  nearest  horseman.  For  forty  yards 
the  charge  of  a  lion  is  swifter  than  the  gallop  of  a  racehorse.  The 
riders,  therefore,  usually  avoid  waiting  within  that  distance. 


no.  ANIMALS,    REPTILES   AND    FISHES   OF   THE   TROPICS. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

COL.  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER — ALL  RECORDS  BROKEN — 
BAGS  A  BULL  RHINOCEROS — SHOOTS  A  GIRAFFE  IN  THE  NECK 
AT  400  YARDS — COL.  ROOSEVELT  KILLS  His  FIRST  ELEPHANT 
— BAGS  A  LEOPARD  AND  CAPTURES  THE  LEOPARD'S  CUBS 
ALIVE — ARRIVES  AT  THE  Ju  JA  RANCH — COL.  ROOSEVEI/T 
DELIGHTED. 

COL.  ROOSEVELT'S  hunting  in  Africa  and  his  expedition 
has  been  successful  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  of 
men.  Not  only  has  he  broken  the  record  for  the  number  of  lions 
killed  by  one  man,  but  he  has  secured  giraffes,  elephants,  rhino 
ceroses,  buffalos,  hippopotami  and  leopard  as  well,  to  say  nothing 
of  a  number  of  less  important  game.  His  first  ten  days'  hunting 
yielded  twenty-seven  head  of  big  game  of  many  different  species. 

When  not  occupied  in  searching  for  specimens  or  writing  he 
spends  his  time  practicing  shooting.  When  particularly  delighted 
with  the  result  of  his  day's  hunting  he  spends  the  evening  at  the 
camp-fire,  pointing  out  how  Africa  could  be  made  a  great  country. 

Col.  Roosevelt  undoubtedly  owes  his  life  to  his  courage  and 
unerring  aim,  which  combination  brought  death  to  a  huge  bull 
rhinoceros  near  Machakos. 

Charged  by  a  huge  rhinoceros,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Ex-Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  raised  his  rifle  and  waited. 

On  came  the  maddened  beast,  crashing  through  the  reeds,  his 
ugly  horned  head  bent  low,  the  impact  of  his  powerful  feet  making 
the  earth  tremble. 

He  was  forty  paces  distant,  his  squeal  was  heard  above  the 
snapping  of  the  brush;  he  was  thirty  paces  away  and  his  blood 
shot  eyes  glistened  like  rubies;  twenty  paces  between  the  hunter 
and  the  bulky  monster,  whose  hot  breath  raised  the  temperature, 
even  in  that  torrid  climate;  fourteen  paces  to  go  and  no  downs- 
Then— 

286 


236  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  glanced  casually  along  the  barrel  of  his 
deadly  rifle.  Crack !  A  single  shot  and  the  ferocious  and  dreadful 
rhinoceros  of  the  jungle  hesitated,  rocked  and  pitched  forward  on 
his  knees,  dead. 

The  bullet  was  fatal,  but  so  fierce  was  the  rush  of  the  giant 
rhinoceros  that  it  plunged  almost  to  the  feet  of  the  Colonel. 

The  rhinoceros,  the  first  that  the  party  had  bagged,  was 
encountered  unexpectedly  while  making  a  short  sortie  from  the 
camp  near  Machakos,  some  fifty  miles  south  of  Nairobi. 

The  native  beaters  had  made  a  wide  detour  movement,  and  a 
returning  signal  soon  told  the  hunters  to  be  on  the  alert.  Within 
a  few  moments  the  stalked  animal  gave  its  own  warning,  and, 
with  furious  snorts,  it  broke  through  the  underbush  electrifying 
the  Colonel,  who  expected  to  meet  his  sixth  lion. 

CHARGED  BY  A  BULL  RHINOCEROS. 

The  bull  came  into  a  clearing  at  a  point  about  two  hundred 
yards  from  Col.  Roosevelt,  and  immediately  charged  upon  the 
party.  Realizing  the  danger  that  beset  "  Bwana  Tumbo,"  others  in 
the  party  were  on  the  point  of  firing,  but  Col.  Roosevelt  held  them 
in  check  while  he  stepped  immediately  in  the  path  of  the  oncoming 
infuriated  beast.  With  wonderful  coolness,  such  as  no  American 
hunter  ever  exceeded,  Col.  Roosevelt  took  deliberate  aim  and  fired. 
A  second  shot  would  have  been  impossible,  but  a  second  shot  was 
not  necessary,  as  the  first  had  pierced  the  animal's  brain. 

When  the  rhinoceros  tumbled  over  Col.  Roosevelt  enjoyed  the 
keenest  moment  of  pleasure  that  he  has  had  in  Africa.  The  fact 
that  he  had  saved  his  life  did  not  seem  to  appeal  to  him  half  as  much 
as  the  fact  that  he  had  added  a  rhinoceros  to  his  collection  and  under 
conditions  that  any  hunter  in  the  world  might  well  have  envied. 

Col.  Roosevelt  was  warmly  congratulated  for  his  coolness  and 
skill,  and  when  the  natives  returned  and  saw  the  huge  beast  dead 
they  were  more  certain  than  ever  that  their  title  of  Bwana  Tumbo 
had  not  been  misapplied. 

The  rhinoceros  made  the  forty-fifth  animal  that  has  been  killed 
by  Col.  Roosevelt  and  his  son  Kermit.  The  kill  represents  fifteen 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER.  237 

varieties,  an  unsurpassed  record  for  the  time  that  the  party  has 
been  in  the  field. 

The  rhinoceros  which  was  of  unusual  size,  will  undoubtedly 
make  one  of  the  most  prized  items  in  Col.  Roosevelt's  collection. 

The  flesh  of  the  rhinoceros  is  apt  to  be  rather  tough,  but  is  of 
good  flavor.  The  best  portions  are  those  which  are  cut  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  shoulder  and  from  the  ribs,  where  the  fat  and 
the  lean  parts  are  regularly  striped  to  the  depth  of  two  inches. 
If  a  large  portion  of  the  meat  is  to  be  cooked  at  one  time,  the  flesh 
is  generaliy  baked  in  the  cavity  of  a  forsaken  ant-hill,  which  is 
covered  into  an  extempore  oven  for  the  occasion ;  but  if  a  single 
hunter  should  need  only  to  assuage  his  own  hunger,  he  cuts  a 
series  of  slices  from  the  ribs,  and  dresses  them  at  his  fire. 

THE  RHINOCEROS  A  QUICK  BEAST  IN  TEMPER. 

All  the  species  of  rhinoceros  are  very  quick  in  their  temper, 
and  liable  to  flash  out  into  anger  without  any  provocation  whatever. 
During  these  fits  of  rage  they  are  dangerous  neighbors,  and  are  apt 
to  attack  any  moving  object  that  may  be  within  their  reach.  In 
one  well-known  instance,  where  a  rhinoceros  made  a  sudden  dash 
upon  a  number  of  picketed  horses,  and  killed  many  of  them  by  the 
strokes  of  his  horn,  the  animal  had  probably  been  irritated  by  some 
unknown  cause,  and  wrecked  his  vengence  on  the  nearest  victims. 

The  rhinoceros  is  always  vicious,  and,  like  the  elephant,'  the 
buffalo,  and  many  other  animals,  will  conceal  himself  in  some 
thicket,  and  thence  dash  out  upon  any  moving  object  that  may 
approach  his  retreat. 

Sometimes  the  rhinoceros  will  commence  a  series  of  most 
extraordinary  antics,  and  seeming  to  have  a  spite  against  some 
particular  bush,  will  rip  it  with  his  horn,  trample  it  with  his  feet, 
roaring  and  grunting  all  the  while,  and  will  never  cease  until  he 
has  cut  it  into  shreds  and  levelled  it  to  the  ground.  He  will  also 
push  the  point  of  his  horn  into  the  earth,  and  career  along,  ploughing 
up  the  ground  as  if  a  furrow  had  been  cut  by  some  agricultural 
implement.  In  such  case  it  seems  that  the  animal  is  not  laboring 


238  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER, 

under  a  fit  of  rage,  as  might  be  supposed,  but  is  merely  exulting  in 
his  strength,  and  giving  vent  to  the  exuberence  of  health  and  violent 
physical  exertion. 

The  rhinoceros  is  a  good  aquatic,  and  will  voluntarily  swim  for 
considerable  distances.  It  is  very  fond  of  haunting  the  river-banks 
and  wallowing  in  the  mud,  so  as  to  case  itself  with  a  thick  coat  of 
that  substance,  in  order  to  shield  itself  from  the  mosquitoes  and 
other  mordant  insects  which  cluster  about  the  tender  places,  and 
drive  the  animal,  thick-skinned  though  it  may  be,  half -mad  with 
their  constant  and  painful  bites. 

The  skin  of  the  rhinoceros  is  of  very  great  thickness  and 
strength,  bidding  defiance  to  ordinary  bullets,  and  forcing  the  hunter 
to  provide  himself  with  balls  which  have  been  hardened  with  tin 
or  solder.  The  extreme  strength  of  the  skin  is  well  known  to  the 
African  natives,  who  manufacture  it  into  shields  and  set  a  high 
value  on  these  weapons  of  defense. 

A  REMARKABLE  SHOT. 

That  Col.  Roosevelt  has  a  keen  eye  and  is  a  remarkable  shot 
will  be  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  shot  a  giraffe  dead,  with  a  bullet 
through  the  neck,  at  a  distance  of  400  yards.  This  feat  he  per 
formed,  incidental  to  bagging  another  giraffe. 

Wherefore  the  former  President  was  proclaimed  the  most 
famous  shot  who  ever  hunted  in  East  Africa,  his  feat  being  the 
more  remarkable  because  the  giraffe  he  shot  at  400  yards  was  in 
full  gallop  when  he  pulled  the  trigger.  "Bwana  Tumbo"  made  this 
record  while  hunting  with  his  son  and  five  porters  a  few  miles  south 
of  Machakos. 

The  buffalo  shot  by  former  President  Roosevelt  was  one  of  the 
typical  and  common  South  African  species,  which  was  equal  in  size 
to  the  Indian  or  Water  Buffalo,  the  largest  of  which  stand  six  feet 
high  at  the  withers  and  has  a  spread  of  horns  sometimes  exceeding 
six  feet.  The  South  African  type  has  a  bluish-black  hide,  in  old  age 
almost  completely  hairless.  Like  the  buffalo  of  the  American  plains 
Hie  African  species  has  upward-curving  horns,  but  with  a  greater 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER.  03,, 

sweep.  It  lacks  the  shoulder  hump  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
American  bison  or  buffalo. 

The  African  buffalo  are  justly  regarded  as  exceedingly  danger 
ous  by  sportsmen.  When  wounded  they  will  charge  with  extreme 
speed  and  ferocity. 

During  the  hunt  Col.  Roosevelt  shot  a  leopard,  capturing  the 
leopard's  cubs  alive. 

This  animal  is  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  the  graceful  tribe 
of  cats,  and,  although  far  less  in  dimensions  than  the  tiger,  chal 
lenges  competition  with  that  animal  in  the  beautiful  markings  of 
its  fur,  and  the  easy  elegance  of  its  movements.  It  is  possessed  of 
an  accomplishment  which  is  not  within  the  powers  of  the  lion  or 
tiger,  being  able  to  climb  trees  with  singular  agility,  and  even  to 
chase  the  tree-loving  animals  among  their  familiar  haunts. 

A  GRACEFUL  ANIMAL. 

In  Africa  the  leopard  is  well  known  and  much  dreaded,  for  it 
possesses  a  most  crafty  brain,  as  well  as  an  agile  body  and  sharp 
teeth  and  claws.  It  commits  sad  depredations  on  flocks  and  herds, 
and  has  sufficient  foresight  to  lay  up  a  little  stock  of  provisions  for 
a  future  day. 

When  attacked  it  will  generally  endeavor  to  slink  away,  and 
to  escape  the  observation  of  its  pursuers ;  but  if  it  is  wounded,  and 
finds  no  mode  of  eluding  its  foes  it  becomes  furious,  and  charges 
at  them  with  such  determinate  rage,  that  unless  it  falls  a  victim  to 
a  well-aimed  shot,  it  may  do  fearful  damage  before  it  yields  up  its 
life. 

Col.  Roosevelt  and  party  started  out  early  one  morning  along 
the  wooded  shores  and  swamps  in  search  of  hippopotami. 

They  occasionally  saw  the  uncouth  head  of  a  hippopotamus 
protrude  from  the  water,  and  the  Colonel  decided  to  shoot  one,  hit 
ting  it  behind  the  ear,  which  is  a  vulnerable  spot,  and  it  spun  around 
in  a  huge  circle  like  a  great  top,  emitting  horrifying  sounds,  until  it 
died,  and  the  body  floated  on  the  water. 

This  enormous  quadruped  is  a  native  of  various  parts  of 
Africa,  and  is  always  found  either  in  water  or  in  its  near  vicinity. 


240  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER. 

In  absolute  height  it  is  not  very  remarkable,  as  its  legs  are  extremely 
short,  but  the  actual  bulk  of  its  body  is  very  great  indeed. 

The  average  height  of  a  full-grown  hippopotamus  is  about  five 
feet.  Its  naked  skin  is  dark  brown,  curiously  marked  with  innumer 
able  lines  like  those  on  "crackle"  china  or  old  oil-paintings,  and  is 
also  dappled  with  a  number  of  sooty  black  spots,  which  cannot  be 
seen  except  on  a  close  inspection. 

A  vast  number  of  pores  penetrate  the  skin,  and  exude  a  thick, 
oily  liquid,  which  effectually  seems  to  protect  the  animal  from  the 
injurious  effects  of  the  water  in  which  it  is  so  constantly  immersed. 
The  mouth  is  enormous  and  its  size  is  greatly  increased  by  the  odd 
manner  in  which  the  jaw  is  set  in  the  head. 

There  are  various  modes  of  hunting  the  mischievous  but  val 
uable  animals,  each  of  which  is  in  vogue  in  its  own  peculiar  region. 

DIFFICULT  TO  KILL  THE  HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

The  white  hunter  of  course  employs  his  rifle  and  finds  that  the 
huge  animal  affords  no  easy  mark,  as  unless  it  is  hit  in  a  mortal  spot 
it  dives  below  the  surface  and  makes  good  its  escape.  Mortal  spots, 
moreover,  are  not  easy  to  find,  or  when  found,  to  hit ;  for  the  animal 
soon  gets  cunning  after  it  has  been  alarmed,  and  remains  deeply 
immersed  in  the  water  as  long  as  it  is  able,  and  when  it  at  last  comes 
to  the  surface  to  breathe,  it  only  just  pushes  its  nostrils  above  the 
surface,  takes  in  the  required  amount  of  air,  and  sinks  back  again 
to  the  river  bed. 

News  filtered  into  Nairobi  from  the  Roosevelt  camp  of  a  thrill 
ing  adventure  of  Kermit  Roosevelt.  He  was  lost  for  a  whole  night 
in  the  wilds  and  wandered  about  until  daylight  when  he  stumbled 
on  Kiu  Station  and  soon  got  his  bearings.  Kermit  had  been  hunting 
by  himself  considerably  since  the  party  went  to  Machakos,  and  was 
out  in  search  of  big  game  when  he  was  surprised  by  sudden  dark 
ness,  nightfall  in  this  region  coming  without  much  preliminary 
twilight. 

Kermit  who  was  on  horseback,  turned  in  what  he  thought  was 
the  direction  of  the  camp,  but  lost  his  direction,  and  wandered  west 
ward  toward  the  Ferman  boundary.  He  soon  found  himself  in  the 


lt>— M.  L. 


241 


242  uULONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER. 

barren  waste  toward  that  line  which  is  both  unwatered  and  unin 
habited.  After  riding  slowly  for  a  time  he  realized  that  he  had  lost 
his  bearings  and  instinctively  turned  backward. 

He  rode  very  slowly  for  hours,  taking  the  direction  from  his 
pocket  compass  and  with  the  dawn  located  the  Kiu  Station.  He 
was  then  20  miles  south  of  the  Machakos  camp  and  rode  in  just  as 
an  expedition  was  getting  ready  to  go  in  search  of  him. 

ROOSEVELT  FOLLOWED  A  LION  INTO  A  THICKET. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  kills  his  first  elephant.  It  was  a  frig 
"tusker,"  and  the  former  President  picked  it  out  of  a  herd  of  about 
a  dozen.  A  baby  elephant  about  two  months  old  was  roped  and 
taken  alive,  and  it  was  sent  as  a  gift  from  Col.  Roosevelt  to  the  New 
York  Zoological  Gardens. 

Col.  Roosevelt,  his  son  Kermit,  and  F.  C.  Selous  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  the  elephant  which  fell  a  prize.  The  men  were  out 
before  daybreak  for  lions  near  Machakos,  and  there  had  been  no 
report  of  elephants  in  the  district.  They  wounded  a  lion  returning 
to  its  lair,  and  the  animal  led  them  on  a  chase  of  several  miles. 

Selous  advised  against  following  the  lion  into  a  thicket,  but 
Roosevelt  went  in,  taking  the  lead,  and  at  times  moving  on  hands 
and  knees,  with  his  rifle  stuck  out  in  front  of  him.  Selous  insisted 
on  following  close  behind  Col.  Roosevelt,  Kermit  bringing  tip  the 
rear. 

Col.  Roosevelt  reached  a  fringe  of  grass  at  an  open  spot,  and 
instantly  brought  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder.  Selous  rose  until  he  was 
almost  standing  upright,  and  saw  that  the  former  President  was 
aiming  at  the  leader  in  a  herd  of  elephants. 

His  whispered  command  came  just  in  time  to  keep  Col.  Roose 
velt  from  firing  at  a  range  of  about  20  feet.  Selous  insisted  upon  a 
retreat,  and  warned  Col.  Roosevelt  that  to  fire  on  the  herd  would 
be  to  invite  death  in  a  charge. 

Roosevelt  reluctantly  moved  back  along  the  trail,  and  followed 
Selous  in  a  wide  detour.  The  Englishman  had  marked  down  the 
herd.  He  kept  safely  to  leeward,  and  finally  directed  Roosevelt  and 
Kermit  to  climb  a  tree.  All  three  men  went  into  the  branches,  and 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER.  243 

were  able  to  make  out  the  backs  of  the  elephants  through  the  tower 
ing  reeds.  Roosevelt's  elephant  gun,  firing  explosive  shells,  was  in 
the  camp.  Selous  advised  him  in  aiming  and  he  sent  half  a  dozen 
bullets  into  the  "tusker." 

The  elephant  charged  the  fire,  and  went  down  on  its  knees  close 
to  the  tree.  Then  at  a  distance  of  about  forty  feet  Roosevelt  struck 
the  heart,  and-  it  went  over  dead.  The  rest  of  the  herd  tore  wildly 
through  the  thicket  in  retreat.  Kermit  trying  several  shots,  but 
without  effect.  The  baby  elephant  was  captured  an  hour  afterward 
by  the  natives  in  Roosevelt's  caravan. 

MOST  INVISIBLE  OF  FOREST  CREATURES. 

The  African  elephant  is  spread  over  a  very  wide  range  of 
country,  extending  from  Senegal  and  Abyssinia  to  the  borders  of 
the  Cape  Colony.  Several  conditions  are  required  for  its  existence, 
such  as  water,  dense  forests,  and  the  absence  of  human  habitations. 

Although  it  is  very  abundant  in  the  locality  which  it  inhabits, 
it  is  not  often  seen  by  casual  travelers,  owing  to  its  great  vigilance 
and  its  wonderful  power  of  moving  through  the  tangled  forests 
without  noise  and  without  causing  any  perceptible  agitation  of  the 
foliage. 

In  spite  of  its  enormous  dimensions,  it  is  one  of  the  most  invis 
ible  of  forest  creatures,  and  a  herd  of  elephants,  of  eight  or  nine 
feet  in  height,  may  stand  within  a  few  feet  of  a  hunter  without  being 
detected  by  him,  even  though  he  is  aware  of  their  presence.  At  a 
certain  season  of  the  year  these  animals  are  seized  with  a  ferocity 
which  renders  them  intractable,  and  formidable. 

Camp  was  broken  the  following  day  and  Col.  Roosevelt  and  his 
party  began  their  march  of  fifty  miles  northeast  to  the  Ju  Ja  ranch 
of  William  McMillan,  a  nephew  of  former  United  States  Senator 
McMillan,  of  Michigan.  The  Roosevelt  party  was  the  guests  of 
Mr.  McMillan,  hunting  daily  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ranch. 

Years  ago  Mr.  McMillan  went  to  British  East  Africa  in  search 
of  big  game  and  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  country  that  he 
acquired  an  immense  reservation  for  his  private  use.  He  has  also 


244  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER. 

led  exploring  expeditions  that  accomplished  work  of  considerable 
importance. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMillan  have  a  wide  reputation  for  generous 
hospitality.  She  has  shared  life  in  Africa  with  her  husband  and 
delights  in  the  experience. 

The  McMillan  farm  gets  its  name  from  the  Ju  and  Ja  rivers, 
between  which  it  lies.  It  covers  20,000  acres  of  land,  and  is  about 
thirty-five  miles  from  Nairobi,  one  of  the  largest  towns  of  the 
plateau  which  is  included  in  the  British  East  Africa.  It  is  fenced 
in  on  three  sides  by  wire  netting,  while  on  the  fourth  the  river  Athi 
forms  a  sufficient  protection  to  its  boundaries. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  and  his  son  Kermit  had  good  hunting  luck 
on  the  ranch.    Their  bag  included  a  waterbuck,  an  impalla  and  other 
varieties  of  antelope.    All  the  skins  were  saved  entire,  and  the  expe 
dition  had  now  a  total  of  sixty  specimens  representing  twenty  differ 
ent  species. 

KERMIT  KILLS  A  LEOPARD  AT  SIX  PACES. 

Kermit  Roosevelt,  while  on  a  trip,  despatched  a  leopard  at  a 
distance  of  six  paces.  The  animal  already  had  mauled  a  beater  and 
was  charging  Kermit  when  he  fired  the  fatal  shot. 

The  impalla,  or,  as  more  commonly  called,  palla,  is  a  species  of 
South  African  antelope  also  known  as  a  rodebok.  It  is  the  principal 
food  for  lions  and  leopards,  and  being  of  a  suspicious  nature,  it  is 
not  only  hard  to  shoot,  but  is  likely  to  alarm  other  game  by  its  shrill 
whistle  when  discovered.  Only  the  male  impalla  has  horns. 

At  the  ranch  the  Roosevelt  party  had  heard  stories  of  a  fierce 
black  maned  lion  that  had  been  prowling  around  the  ranch  for 
several  weeks,  and  had  killed  a  score  or  more  of  zebras.  Col.  Roose 
velt  was  particularly  anxious  to  get  a  shot  at  this  lion,  as  it  was  of 
a  species  not  included  in  the  lions  that  he  has  already  killed. 

The  Colonel  spent  two  days  in  a  futile  chase  of  a  black  maned 
lion  in  the  Mau  hill  country,  but  it  was  no  such  animal  as  the  party 
desired.  The  entire  party  was  in  high  spirits  and  confident  of  a 
record  breaking  hunt  later  on. 

Roosevelt  started  early  one  morning  on  the  most  hazardous 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER.  245 

hunt  of  his  trip.  He  and  Kermit  and  their  party  left  the  ranch  to  bag 
another  hippopotamus.  On  the  way  to  the  lair  of  the  "hippo"  Col. 
Roosevelt  and  Kermit  shot  two  bull  buffaloes  and  a  python.  One, 
the  biggest  of  the  two,  was  brought  down  by  Col.  Roosevelt  alone/ 
while  the  other  was  bagged  by  Col.  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  together. 

The  python  killed  by  Col.  Roosevelt  the  preceding  day  was  the 
largest  taken  in  British  East  Africa  in  many  years.  The  former 
President  and  F.  C.  Selous,  his  guide,  stumbled  across  the  python 
at- the  edge  of  a  swamp,  where  it  was  quietly  making  a  meal  of  an 
antelope,  horns  and  all. 

Roosevelt  was  more  excited  over  the  killing  of  the  serpent, 
measuring  twenty-three  feet,  than  over  his  first  lion,  although  there 
was  slight  danger  to  himself.  The  bullet  that  killed,  however,  was 
one  back  from  the  head,  which  cut  a  vertebra.  Roosevelt  assisted 
Selous  and  a  band  of  natives  in  skinning  the  python  on  the  spot. 

THE  ROOSEVELT  PARTY  AT  NAIROBI. 

All  the  members  of  the  Roosevelt  party  came  into  Nairobi  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  from  the  Heatley  ranch.  They  were  in 
splendid  health.  In  the  last  hunting  Col.  Roosevelt  bagged  another 
buffalo,  and  a  bull  wildebeest  fell  before  the  rifle  of  his  son  Kermit. 

The  naturalists  of  the  expedition  had  collected  two  pythons 
and  four  hundred  odd  birds  and  animals.  They  were  especially 
delighted  with  some  unexpected  specimens. 

The  Spanish- American  War,  in  which  Col.  Theodore  Roosevelt 
played  a  stellar  role,  was  vividly  recalled  to  him  by  the  display  of 
a  flag  captured  by  an  American  at  the  naval  battle  of  Santiago. 
The  owner  had  since  settled  in  British  East  Africa,  and  had  added 
his  prized  relic  to  the  wealth  of  decorations  that  had  been  put  out  in 
honor  of  Col.  Roosevelt's  return. 

The  reception  to  Col.  Roosevelt  in  the  evening  was  the  heartiest 
ever  if  not  the  most  elaborate  that  he  had  encountered  since  leaving 
New  York.  The  whole  town  was  decorated  with  flags  and  bunting, 
the  display  being  many  times  more  elaborate  than  that  which  greeted 
him  upon  his  first  coming  to  the  town. 

During  Col.  Roosevelt's  stay  in  Nairobi  a  number  of  affairs 


246  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER. 

had  been  planned  in  his  honor,  but  which  was  abandoned,  owing  to 
his  expressed  desire  to  spend  the  time  as  quietly  as  possible  in  order 
to  do  a  little  writing. 

The  special  train  bearing  Ex-President  Roosevelt  and  party 
arrived  at  Kijabe  in  the  afternoon.  All  the  porters  of  the  expedi 
tion,  who  had  preceded  Col.  Roosevelt  to  this  point,  were  lined  up 
on  the  station  platform  and  cheered  Col.  Roosevelt  when  the  train 
pulled  in.  The  journey  of  forty-four  miles  occupied  four  days. 

ROOSEVELT  RODE  ON  A  LOCOMOTIVE  COWCATCHER. 

Col.  Roosevelt  rode  half  the  distance  on  the  locomotive  cow 
catcher  with  Major  Mearns.  They  perched  themselves  on  the 
engine's  front  at  Kikuyu  and  stayed  there  until  the  train  reached 
Escarpment,  a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles.  A  hyena  that  got 
on  the  track  was  nearly  run  down. 

The  scenery  along  the  road  delighted  Col.  Roosevelt,  especially 
the  Rift  Valley.  The  country  between  Nairobi  and  Kijabe  is  for 
the  most  part  thickly  wooded  and  high. 

The  highest  point  of  the  Kikuyu  escarpment  is  7,830  feet. 
From  this  point  there  is  a  magnificent  view  down  2,000  feet  into 
the  great  Rift  Valley.  Elephants  are  plentiful  in  these  forests,  but 
are  fairly  safe  from  the  hunter,  as  the  thickness  of  the  growth 
renders  pursuit  very  difficult. 

The  American  missionaries,  whose  field  and  work  the  Ex- 
President  has  come  to  look  over,  were  at  the  station,  too.  They 
invited  him  to  dinner,  but  the  invitation  was  declined. 

The  party  slept  in  tents  pitched  near  the  railway.  The  follow 
ing  day  Col.  Roosevelt  visited  the  mission  at  Kijabe,  an  American 
organization  called  the  African  Inland  Mission.  It  is  independent 
and  self-controlling  in  the  field,  although  represented  by  home  coun 
cils  in  Philadelphia  and  London.  The  headquarters  are  at  Kijabe, 
where  schools  are  conducted  for  missionaries'  children  and  for  the 
industrial  training  of  natives. 

Col.  Roosevelt  spent  some  time  shooting  monkeys,  particularly 
the  colobus.  Edmund  Heller  bagged  three  of  the  colobus  species 
and  a  green-faced  monkey,  and  Kermit  Roosevelt  killed  two  large 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  A  REMARKABLE  HUNTER.  247 

specimens  of  the  former.    Major  Mearns  occupied  his  time  in  shoot 
ing  birds. 

While  at  the  mission  Ex-President  Roosevelt  made  a  thorough 
inspection  of  the  institution,  and  afterward  had  luncheon  with  forty 
of  the  missionaries  and  their  wives  and  settlers  in  the  country.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Hurlburt,  in  a  speech,  welcomed  the  American. 

In  replying,  Col.  Roosevelt  said:  "I  have  a  peculiar  feeling 
for  the  settlers  working  in  this  new  country,  as  they  remind  me  of 
my  own  people  working  in  the  western  States,  where  they  know  nfs 
difference  between  easterner,  westerner,  northerner,  or  southerner 
and  pay  no  heed  to  creed  or  birthplace." 

Col.  Roosevelt  remained  over  night  at  the  mission  and  started 
for  the  Sotik  district  the  following  day. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ROOSEVELT  HUNTS  ON  LAKE  NAIVASHA  —  ADDS  A  BULL  HIPPOPOTA 
MUS  TO  His  COLLECTION  —  AMMUNITION  USED  BY  COLONEL 
ROOSEVELT  IN  AFRICA  —  EXCITING  COMBAT  WITH  HIPPO 
POTAMUS. 


OLONEL  ROOSEVELT  inaugurated  a  novelty  in  big  game 
hunting  when  in  pursuit  of  elephant  and  rhinoceros  in  Africa, 
armed  with  an  American  repeating  rifle  of  far  lighter  bore  than  the 
weapons  with  which  British  sportsmen  pursue  the  same  animals. 
Although  the  rhino  is  considered  about  as  dangerous  game  as  can 
be  found  on  the  Dark  Continent,  due  to  his  habit  of  blindly  charging 
at  top  speed  any  object  he  deems  hostile,  the  former  President  used 
a  rifle  of  only  .405  caliber  in  the  chase. 

This  rifle  is  better  known  by  the  American  term  of  "  forty  " 
caliber,  and  it  would  have  been  considered  little  short  of  suicide 
fifteen  years  ago  to  attempt  the  hunting  of  such  big  game  with  such 
a  caliber.  Improvements  in  high  pressure,  smokeless  powder  and 
the  development  of  the  steel  jacketed  bullet  have  increased  the 
efficiency  of  the  arm  many  times  since  then,  however.  With  the  steel 
bullet  he  used  the  arm  when  encountering  the  African  buffalo,  which 
is  said  to  be  a  far  more  dangerous  customer  than  his  American 
namesake  used  to  be. 

This  same  gun  with  soft-pointed  bullets  was  used  on  such  game 
as  lions.  It  has  terrific  "  smashing  "  power,  as  it  has  tremendous 
velocity,  and  the  bullet  spreads  or  mushrooms  on  impact,  thus  tear 
ing  a  hole  through  soft  tissue  and  the  lighter  bones  through  which 
the  hand  could  be  thrust.  To  penetrate  the  tough  hide  of  a  rhino, 
however,  the  steel  bullet  is  used. 

For  lighter  game,  such  as  the  African  species  of  deer,  and  for 
long-range  shooting  the  Colonel  carried  two  .303  caliber  repeaters, 
popularly  known  as  "  thirties." 

For  feathered  game  he  used  two  twelve-gauge  repeating  shot- 


EFFICIENT   PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND   ARMS.  249 

guns  and  two  twenty-two  caliber  automatic  rifles  for  small  game 
and  for  amusement  around  camp.  His  shotgun  ammunition  was 
specially  loaded  for  him  and  was  in  brass  shells.  The  wads  had 
been  carefully  waterproofed,  and  instead  of  the  shell  being  merely 
crimped  over  the  wad  at  the  end,  it  had  been  cut  into  small  flanges 
and  bent  over.  The  wad  was  covered  with  wax.  This  was  to  pre 
vent  swelling  in  the  moist  climate,  which  might  affect  paper  shells. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  accepted  an  invitation  to  camp  on  the  grounds 
of  the  Attenborough  brothers  on  Lake  Naivasha.  The  elder  of  the 
brothers  is  Captain  Frederick,  a  retired  British  naval  officer.  The 
younger  is  H.  T.  Attenborough,  who  for  twenty  years  was  a  resi 
dent  of  San  Francisco.  The  two  brothers,  who  are  rich  men,  have 
built  a  splendid  European  estate  and  home  in  the  African  mountains 
where  they  live  like  feudal  lords  of  old.  Their  manor  house  is  in 
the  low  mountains  which  fringe  the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Nai 
vasha,  while  their  estate  runs  down  to  the  shores  of  the  lake. 

ROOSEVELT  SHOOTS  A  HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

The  Attenboroughs  live  in  a  veritable  Arabian  Nights  atmos 
phere.  They  have  built  a  lake  of  their  own,  in  which  they  have 
thirty  of  the  finest  specimen  of  hippopotami  in  Africa,  and  it  is  a 
rare  sight  to  sit  on  the  banks  of  this  artificial  sea  and  watch  the 
great  beasts  at  play. 

As  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  lacking  a  bull  hippopotamus  for  his 
bag,  the  brothers  insisted  that  he  shoot  one  from  their  lake,  the  skin 
being  added  to  the  collection  being  shipped  back  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institute  in  Washington. 

The  hippopotamus  is,  as  the  import  of  its  name,  "  river  horse," 
implies,  most  aquatic  in  its  habits.  It  generally  prefers  fresh  water, 
but  it  is  not  at  all  averse  to  the  sea,  and  will  sometimes  prefer  salt 
water  to  fresh.  It  is  an  admirable  swimmer  and  diver,  and  is  able 
to  remain  below  the  surface  for  a  considerable  length  of  time. 

In  common  with  the  elephant,  it  possesses  the  power  of  sinking 
at  will,  which  is  the  more  extraordinary  when  the  huge  size  of  the 
animal  is  taken  into  consideration.  Perhaps  it  may  be  enabled  to 
contract  itself  by  an  exertion  of  the  muscles  whenever  it  desires  to 


260  EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS. 

sink,  and  to  return  to  its  former  dimensions  when  it  wishes  to  return 
to  the  surface.  It  mostly  affects  the  stillest  reaches  of  the  river,  as 
it  is  less  exposed  to  the  current,  and  not  so  liable  to  be  swept  down 
the  stream  while  asleep. 

The  young  hippopotamus  is  not  able  to  bear  submersion  so  long 
as  its  parent,  and  is  therefore  carefully  brought  to  the  surface  at 
short  intervals  for  the  purpose  of  breathing.  During  the  first  few 
months  of  the  little  animal's  life,  it  takes  its  stand  on  its  mother's 
neck,  and  is  borne  by  her  above  or  through  the  water  as  experience 
may  dictate  or  necessity  require. 

THE  HIPPOPOTAMUS  FIERCE  FIGHTERS  WHEN  AROUSED. 

On  shore  the  hippopotamus  trots  heavily,  but  with  considerable 
rapidity,  and  when  two  of  them  meet  on  solid  ground  they  frequently 
fight  ferociously,  rearing  up  on  their  hind  feet,  and  biting  one  an 
other  with  great  fury,  so  that  according  to  African  travelers,  it  is 
rare  to  find  a  hippopotamus  which  has  not  some  of  its  teeth  broken, 
or  the  scars  of  wounds  upon  his  body.  When  not  irritated  they 
appear  to  be  quiet  and  inoffensive;  but  a  very  trifling  irritation  is 
sufficient  to  rouse  their  anger,  when  they  attack  the  offender  most 
furiously  with  their  teeth. 

A  hippopotamus  which  had  been  touched  accidentally  by  a  boat 
turned  upon  it  and  tore  out  several  of  the  planks,  so  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  the  crew  got  to  shore.  A  hippopotamus  has  also  been 
known  to  kill  some  cattle,  which  were  tied  up  near  his  haunts,  with 
out  the  slightest  provocation. 

Mr.  Cuninghame,  who  was  in  Africa  with  Colonel  Roosevelt, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  habits  of  the  hippopotamus: 
"  This  animal  abounds  in  the  Limpopo,  dividing  the  empire  with  its 
amphibious  neighbor,  the  crocodile.  Throughout  the  night  the  un 
wieldy  monsters  might  be  heard  snorting  and  blowing  during  their 
acquatic  gambols,  and  we  not  unfrequently  detected  them  in  the  act 
of  sallying  from  their  reed-grown  coverts,  to  graze  by  the  serene 
light  of  the  moon;  never,  however,  venturing  to  any  distance  from 
the  river,  the  stronghold  to  which  they  betake  themselves  on  the 
smallest  alarm. 


EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS.  251 

"  Occasionally  during  the  day,  they  were  to  be  seen  basking 
on  the  shore,  amid  ooze  and  mud ;  but  shots  were  most  constantly  to 
be  had  at  their  uncouth  heads,  when  protruded  from  the  water  to 
draw  breath ;  and  if  killed,  the  body  rose  to  the  surface.  Vulnerable 
only  behind  the  ear,  however,  or  the  eye,  which  is  placed  in  a  prom 
inence,  so  as  to  resemble  the  garret  window  of  a  Dutch  house,  they 
require  the  perfection  of  rifle  practice,  and  after  a  few  shots  become 
exceedingly  shy,  exhibiting  the  snout  only,  and  as  instantly  with 
drawing  it. 

"  The  hide  is  upward  of  an  inch  and  a  half  in  thickness,  and 
being  scarcely  flexible,  may  be  dragged  from  the  ribs  like  planks 
from  the  ship's  side." 

'  The  track  of  the  hippopotamus  may  be  distinguished  from  any 
other  animal  by  a  line  of  unbroken  herbage  which  is  left  behind  the 
marks  of  the  feet  of  each  side,  as  the  width  of  the  space  between 
the  right  and  left  legs  causes  the  animal  to  place  its  feet  so  consider 
ably  apart  as  to  make  a  distinct  double  track. 

THE  HIPPOPOTAMUS  DISAPPEARING  FAST. 

"  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  hippopotamus,  as  well  as  the  ele 
phant  and  rhinoceros,  is  fast  disappearing  in  all  the  countries  where 
it  exists,  before  the  incessant  and  destructive  war  made  upon  it  by 
firearms.  It  could  resist,  and  for  ages  did  resist,  the  rude  and 
ineffective  weapons  of  savages  and  barbarians,  living  and  multiply 
ing  in  spite  of  them ;  but  the  species  must  soon  yield  to  the  destructive 
propensity  and  power  of  civilized  men." 

"  After  seeing  the  animal  plunging  about  in  his  bath,  diving 
with  ease,  and  traversing  the  bottom  of  the  tank  as  if  it  were  dry 
land,  one  can  the  better  appreciate  the  difficulties  attending  a  struggle 
which  I  recently  witnessed : 

"  There  were  four  of  them,  three  cows  and  an  old  bull.  They 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and,  although  alarmed,  did  not 
appear  aware  of  the  extent  of  the  impending  danger. 

"  I  took  the  sea-cow  next  me,  and  with  my  first  ball  I  gave  her 
a  mortal  wound,  knocking  loose  a  great  plate  on  the  top  of  her  skull. 
She  at  once  commenced  plunging  round  and  round,  and  occasionally 


252  EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS. 

remained  still,  sitting  for  a  few  moments  on  the  same  spot.  On 
hearing  the  report  of  my  rifle,  two  of  the  others  took  up  stream, 
and  the  fourth  dashed  down  the  river.  They  rolled  along  like  oxen, 
at  a  smart  pace,  as  long  as  the  water  was  shallow. 

"  I  was  now  in  a  state  of  great  anxiety  about  my  wounded  sea- 
cow,  for  I  feared  she  would  get  down  into  deep  water,  and  be  lost, 
like  the  last  one.  Her  struggles  were  still  bearing  her  down  stream, 
and  the  water  was  becoming  deeper.  To  settle  the  matter,  I 
accordingly  fired  another  shot  from  the  bank,  which,  entering  the 
roof  of  her  skull,  passed  out  through  her  eye.  She  then  kept  con 
tinually  splashing  round  and  round  in  a  circle  in  the  middle  of  the 
river. 

"  I  had  great  fears  of  the  crocodiles,  and  I  did  not  know  that 
the  sea-cow  might  not  attack  me;  my  anxiety  to  secure  her,  how 
ever,  overcame  all  hesitation.  So  divesting  myself  of  my  leathers, 
and  armed  with  a  sharp  knife,  I  dashed  into  the  river,  which  at  first 
took  me  up  to  my  arm-pits,  but  in  the  middle  was  shallower. 

SPLASHED  FURIOUSLY. 

"  As  I  approached  Behemoth,  her  eye  looked  very  wicked  at 
me,  but  she  was  stunned,  and  did  not  know  what  she  was  doing; 
so  running  in  upon  her,  and  seizing  her  short  tail,  I  attempted  to 
incline  her  course  to  land.  It  was  extraordinary  what  enormous 
strength  she  still  had  in  the  water.  I  could  not  guide  her  in  the 
least,  and  she  continued  to  splash,  and  plunge,  and  blow,  and  make 
her  circular  course,  carrying  me  along  with  her  as  if  I  was  a  fly  on 
her  tail. 

"  Finding  her  tail  gave  me  but  a  poor  hold,  as  the  only  means 
of  securing  my  prey,  I  took  out  my  knife,  and  cutting  two  deep 
parallel  incisions  through  the  skin  on  her  rump,  and  lifting  this  skin 
from  the  flesh,  so  that  I  could  get  in  my  two  hands,  I  made  use  of 
this  as  a  handle,  and  after  some  desperate  hard  work,  sometimes 
pushing,  sometimes  pulling,  the  sea-cow  continuing  her  circular 
course  all  the  time,  and  I  holding  on  her  rump  like  grim  death, 
eventually  I  succeeded  in  bringing  this  gigantic  and  most  powerful 
animal  to  the  bank. 


EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS.  263 

"  Here  a  native  quickly  brought  me  a  stout  buffalo-rein  from 
my  horse's  neck,  which  I  passed  through  the 'opening  in  the  thick 
skin,  and  moored  Behemoth  to  a  tree.  I  then  took  my  rifle,  and 
sent  a  shot  through  her  head,  and  she  was  numbered  with  the  dead." 

In  explanation  of  one  part  of  this  description,  the  difficulty 


DRIVING   CROCODILES   INTO   THE   WATER. 

experienced  by  the  hunter  io  holding  by  her  tail  will  be  easily 
understood  by  those  who  have  examined  the  member  in  ques 
tion.  The  tail  of  the  hippopotamus  is  a  flattened,  naked  affair, 
about  two  feet  long,  as  thick  as  a  man's  wrist,  and  slightly  fringed 
at  the  extremity  with  a  few  long  bristles.  If  we  imagine  this  tail 
flung  about  in  the  death-agony  of  a  full-grown  hippopotamus,  it  will 


254  EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS. 

not  be  difficult  to  conceive  the  almost  impossibility  of  holding  on  by 
the  hands,  especially  in  the  water,  which  is  the  natural  element  of 
the  brute. 

Another  member  of  the  Roosevelt  party  relates  a  thrilling 
experience  that  befell  some  of  his  companions  on  one  of  their  hunt 
ing  trips.  A  hippopotamus  happened  to  rise  under  their  boat,  and 
struck  her  back  against  its  keel.  Irritated  by  the  unexpected  resist 
ance,  she  dashed-at  the  boat  with  open  jaws,  seized  the  side  between 
her  teeth,  and  tore  out  seven  planks.  She  then  sank  for  a  few  sec 
onds,  but  immediately  resumed  the  attack,  and  if  one  of  the  party 
had  not  fired  a  musket  in  her  face,  would  probably  have  worked 
still  more  harm. 

NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM  DROWNING. 

As  it  was,  too  much  mischief  had  been  already  done,  for  the 
loss  of  so  much  planking  had  caused  the  boat  to  fill  rapidly,  and  it 
was  only  by  severe  exertion  that  the  party  succeeeded  in  getting  the 
boat  to  shore  before  it  sank.  The  boat  was  providentially  not  more 
than  an  oar's  length  from  the  bank  when  the  attack  took  place ;  but 
had  it  been  in  the  centre  of  the  river,  few,  if  any  of  the  occupants, 
would  have  escaped  to  tell  the  tale. 

The  shock  from  beneath  was  so  violent,  that  the  steersman  was 
thrown  completely  out  of  the  boat  into  the  water,  but  was  seized 
and  drawn  in  again  before  the  hippopotamus  could  get  at  him. 

The  extreme  whiteness  of  the  ivory  obtained  from  the  hippo 
potamus'  teeth  renders  it  peculiarly  valuable  for  the  delicate  scales 
of  various  philosophical  instruments,  and  its  natural  curve  adapts 
it  admirably  for  the  verniers  of  ship  sextants.  The  weight  of  a 
large  tooth  is  from  five  to  eight  pounds,  and  the  value  of  the  ivory 
is  from  four  to  five  dollars  a  pound. 

With  these  apparently  combined  teeth  the  hippopotamus  can 
cut  the  grass  as  neatly  as  if  it  were  mown  with  a  scythe,  and  is  able 
to  sever,  as  if  with  shears,  a  tolerably  stout  and  thick  stem. 

Possessed  of  an  enormous  appetite,  having  a  stomach  that  is 
capable  of  containing  five  or  six  bushels  of  nutriment,  and  furnished 
with  such  powerful  instruments,  the  hippopotamus  is  a  terrible 


250  EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND 

nuisance  to  the  owners  of  cultivated  lands  that  happen  to  be  near 
the  river  in  which  the  animal  has  taken  up  his  abode. 

During  the  day  it  is  comfortably  asleep  in  its  chosen  hiding- 
place,  but  as  soon  as  the  shades  of  night  deepen,  the  hippopotamus 
issues  from  its  den,  and  treading  its  way  into  the  cultivated  lands, 
makes  sad  devastation  among  the  growing  crops. 

Were  the  mischief  confined  to  the  amount  which  is  eaten  by 
the  voracious  brute,  it  would  be  bad  enough,  but  the  worst  of  the 
matter  is,  that  the  hippopotamus  damages  more  than  it  eats  by  the 
clumsy  manner  of  its  progress.  The  body  is  so  large  and  heavy, 
and  the  legs  are  so  short,  that  the  animal  is  forced  to  make  a  double 
track  as  he  walks,  and  in  the  grass-grown  plain  can  be  readily 
traced  by  the  peculiar  character  of  the  track. 

HIPPOPOTAMANI  DESTROY  MORE  THAN  THEY  EAT. 

It  may  therefore  be  easily  imagined  that  when  a  number  of 
these  hungry,  awkward,  waddling,  splay-footed  beasts  come  blunder 
ing  among  the  standing  crops,  trampling  and  devouring  indiscrim 
inately,  they  will  do  no  slight  damage  before  they  think  fit  to 
retire. 

The  aggrieved  cultivators  endeavor  to  protect  their  grounds 
and  at  the  same  time  to  make  the  depredators  pay  for  the  damage 
which  they  have  done,  by  digging  a  number  of  pitfalls  across  the 
hippopotamus  paths,  and  furnishing  each  pit  with  a  sharp  stake  in 
the  centre. 

When  an  animal  falls  into  such  a  trap,  the  rejoicings  are  great, 
for  not  only  is  the  ivory  of  great  commercial  value,  but  the  flesh  is 
very  good  eating,  and  the  hide  is  useful  for  the  manufacture  of 
whips  and  other  instruments.  The  fat  of  the  hippopotamus,  called 
by  the  colonists  "  Zee-Koe  speck  "  or  sea-cow  bacon,  is  held  in  very 
high  estimation,  as  is  the  tongue  and  the  jelly  which  is  extracted 
from  the  feet. 

Tne  hide  is  so  thick  that  it  must  be  dragged  from  the  creature's 
body  in  slips,  like  so  many  planks,  and  is  an  inch  and  a  half  in  thick 
ness  on  the  back,  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  on  the  other  portions 
of  the  body.  Yet,  in  spite  of  its  enormous  thickness  and  its  tough 


EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS.  257 

quality,  it  is  quite  pliable  when  seen  on  the  living  beast,  and  accom 
modates  itself  easily  to  all  his  movements. 

There  is  also  the  "  down- fall,"  a  trap  which  consists  of  a  log  of 
wood,  weighted  heavily  at  one  end,  to  which  extremity  is  loosely 
fixed  a  spearhead,  well  treated  with  poison.  This  terrible  log  is 
suspended  over  some  hippopotamus  path,  and  is  kept  in  its  place  by 
a  slight  cord  which  crosses  the  path  and  is  connected  with  a  catch 
or  trigger.  As  soon  as  the  animal  presses  the  cord,  the  catch  is 
liberated,  and  down  comes  the  armed  log,  striking  the  poisoned  spear 
deep  into  the  poor  beast's  back,  and  speedily  killing  it  by  the  poison, 
if  not  from  the  immediate  effects  of  the  wound. 

The  most  exciting  manner  of  hunting  the  hippopotamus  is  by 
fairly  chasing  and  harpooning  it,  as  if  it  were  a  whale  or  a  walrus. 

GETTING  READY  WITH  THE  HARPOON. 

The  harpoon  is  a  very  ingenious  instrument,  being  composed 
of  two  portions,  a  shaft  measuring  three  or  four  inches  in  thickness 
and  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length,  and  a  barbed  iron  point,  which  fits 
loosely  into  a  socket  in  the  head"  of  the  shaft,  and  is  connected  with 
it  by  means  of  a  rope  composed  of  a  number  of  separate  strands. 

This  peculiar  rope  is  employed  to  prevent  the  animal  from 
severing  it,  which  he  would  soon  manage  were  it  to  be  composed  of 
a  single  strand.  To  the  other  end  of  the  shaft  a  strong  line  is  fast 
ened,  and  to  the  other  end  of  the  line  a  float  or  buoy  is  attached. 
As  this  composite  harpoon  is  very  weighty  it  is  not  thrown  at  the 
animal,  but  is  urged  by  the  force  of  the  harpooner's  arm.  The  man 
ner  of  employing  it  shall  be  told  in  the  following  words  of  one  of 
the  most  skillful  hunters  of  recent  times : 

"  As  soon  as  the  position  of  the  hippopotamus  is  ascertained, 
one  or  more  of  the  most  skillful  and  intrepid  of  the  hunters  stand 
prepared  with  the  harpoons;  whilst  the  rest  make  ready  to  launch 
the  canoes,  should  the  attack  prove  successful.  The  bustle  and  noise 
caused  by  these  preparations  gradually  subside.  Conversation  is 
carried  on  in  a  whisper,  and  every  one  is  on  the  alert. 

'*  The  snorting  and  plunging  become  every  moment  more 
distinct ;  but  a  bend  in  the  stream  still  hides  the  animals  from  view. 

17— M.I<. 


SCENES  AMONGST  THE  60MALIS  FROM  WHOM  ROOSEVELT'S  POUTERS  WERE  DRAWN, 


EFFICIENT   PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS.  268 

The  angle  being  passed,  several  dark  objects  are  seen  floating  list 
lessly  on  the  water,  looking  more  like  the  crest  of  sunken  rocks  than 
living  creatures. 

"  Ever  and  anon,  one  or  other  of  the  shapeless  masses  is  sub 
merged,  but  soon  again  makes  its  appearance  on  the  surface.  On, 
on,  glides  the  raft  with  its  sable  crew,  who  are  now  worked  up  to 
the  highest  state  of  excitement. 

"  At  last,  the  raft  is  in  the  midst  of  the  herd,  who  appear  quite 
unconscious  of  danger.  Presently  one  of  the  animals  is  in  immediate 
contact  with  the  raft.  Now  is  the  critical  moment.  The  foremost 
harpooner  raises  himself  to  his  full  height,  to  give  the  greater  force 
to  the  blow,  and  the  next  instant  the  fatal  iron  descends  with  un 
erring  accuracy  in  the  body  of  the  hippopotamus. 

ALL  EFFORTS  TO  ESCAPE  ARE  UNAVAILING. 

"  The  wounded  animal  plunges  violently,  and  dives  to  the  bot 
tom;  but  all  his  efforts  to  escape  are  unavailing.  The  line  or  the 
shaft  of  the  harpoon  may  break;  but  the  cruel  barb  once  inbedded 
in  the  flesh,  the  weapon  (owing  to  the  toughness  and  thickness  of 
the  beast's  hide)  cannot  be  withdrawn. 

"  As  soon  as  the  hippopotamus  is  struck,  one  or  more  of  the 
men  launch  a  canoe  from  off  the  raft,  and  hasten  to  the  shore  with 
the  harpoon-line,  and  take  a  round  turn  with  it  about  a  tree,  or 
bunch  of  reeds,  so  that  the  animal  may  either  be  '  brought  up '  at 
once,  or,  should  there  be  too  great  a, strain  on  the  line,  'played' 
(to  liken  small  things  to  great)  in  the  same  manner  as  the.  salmon 
by  the  fisherman.  But  if  time  should  not  admit  of  the  line  being 
passed  round  a  tree,  or  the  like,  both  line  and  '  buoy '  are  thrown 
into  the  water,  and  the  animal  goes  wherever  he  chooses. 

"  The  rest  of  the  canoes  are  now  all  launched  from  off  the  raft, 
and  chase  is  given  to  the  poor  brute,  who,  so  soon  as  he  conies  to 
the  surface  to  breathe,  is  saluted  with  a  shower  of  light  javelins. 
Again  he  descends,  his  track  deeply  crimsoned  with  gore.  Pres 
ently — and  perhaps  at  some  little  distance — he  once  more  appears 
on  the  surface,  when,  as  before,  missiles  of  all  kinds  are  hurled  at 
his  devoted  head. 


260  EFFICIENT  PREPARATION  IN  AMMUNITION  AND  ARMS. 

"  When  thus  beset,  the  infuriated  beast  not  unf requently  turns 
upon  his  assailants,  and  either  with  his  formidable  tusks,  or  with 
a  blow  from  his  enormous  head,  staves  in  or  capsizes  the  canoes. 
At  times,  indeed,  not  satisfied  with  wreaking  his  vengeance  on  the 
craft,  he  will  attack  one  or  other  of  the  natives,  and  with  a  single 
grasp  of  his  horrid  jaws  either  terribly  mutilates  the  poor  fellow,  or, 
it  may  be,  cuts  his  body  fairly  in  two. 

'  The  chase  often  lasts  a  considerable  time.  So  long  as  the 
line  and  the  harpoon  hold,  the  animal  cannot  escape,  because  the 
'  buoy '  always  marks  his  whereabouts.  At  length,  from  loss  of 
blood  or  exhaustion,  Behemoth  succumbs  to  his  pursuers  and  is  then 
dragged  ashore." 

The  hippopotamus  feeds  entirely  upon  vegetable  substances, 
cropping  the  herbage  and  bushes  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  and 
occasionally  visiting  the  cultivated  grounds  during  the  night.  It 
passes  most  of  its  time  in  the  water,  where  it  swims  and  dives  with 
great  ease,  and  is  said  to  walk  at  the  bottom.  When  the  head  of 
the  animal  is  below  the  water  it  rises  frequently  to  blow  it  out  from 
its  nostrils,  making  it  ascend  in  two  jets. 

The  government  officials  on  the  morning  of  July  9th  closed  the 
public  road  which  runs  from  Nairobi  to  Fort  Hall,  the  capital  of 
Kenia,  owing  to  the  invasion  of  that  district  by  man-eating  lions. 
Several  natives  within  a  few  days  had  been  killed  by  these  animals. 

The  Fort  Hall  road,  which  was  closed  by  the  authorities,  is 
about  sixty  miles  long  and  situated  to  the  east  of  the  Uganda  Rail 
road.  Former  President  Roosevelt  at  that  time  was  on  a  shooting 
trip  in  the  Sotik  district,  which  is  about  fifty  miles  from  Naivasha 
on  the  west  side  of  the  railroad. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

ROOSEVELT  HUNTING  IN  THE  INTEREST  OF  SCIENCE — STRANGE 
BEASTS  FOR  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTE — BACK  TO  NAIROBI — 
CONCLUDES  A  TEN  DAYS  TOUR  ON  THE  SOUTH  SHORE — INTER 
ESTED  IN  CHURCH  WORK — TALKS  TO  AFRICANDERS — LAYING 
CORNER-STONE  OF  NEW  MISSION  AT  KIJABE — ROOSEVELT'S 
TROPHIES  ARRIVE  AT  WASHINGTON — RESUMES  HUNTING — 
BRINGS  DOWN  A  BIG  BULL  ELEPHANT — SAVED  FROM  DEATH 
BY  CHARGING  ELEPHANT. 

/COLONEL,  ROOSEVELT  is  not  only  a  sportsman  but  a 
^-^  naturalist,  and  when  he  determined  on  taking  a  hunting  trip 
to  Africa,  he  decided  that  this  should  not  be  merely  for  sport,  but 
that  it  should  be  for  the  benefit  of  science.  He  was  accordingly 
accompanied  by  three  gentlemen  who  are  good  naturalists,  good 
collectors,  and  good  company  as  well,  and  these  went  with  the 
express  purpose  of  securing  as  many  specimens  as  possible  for  the 
Smithsonian  Institution.  The  expenses  of  these  three  were  met 
by  friends  of  the  Institution,  and  the  shooting  of  the  monkeys  that 
had  caused  so  much  ink  to  be  shed  in  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers 
was  in  accord  with  the  programme  thus  laid  down  at  the  outset, 
and  the  animals  were  killed  for  specimens.  The  assertion  that  they 
were  shot  for  sport  is  a  pure  invention  of  some  newspaper  writer. 

If  it  is  proper  to  kill  animals  to  be  used  as  ornaments,  it  is 
certainly  justifiable  to  kill  them  for  museum  specimens,  and  these 
very  monkeys  have  been  slaughtered  almost  to  the  verge  of  exter 
mination  in  order  to  furnish  collars  and  muffs  for  wearing  apparel. 

Ex-President  Roosevelt,  accompanied  by  Major  Mearns,  came 
into  Naivasha  on  Thursday,  July  22,  riding  round  the  east  side  of 
the  lake,  while  J.  Alden  Loring,  the  naturalist,  came  across  in 
Captain  Attenborough's  launch.  Profesor  Edmund  Heller  re- 

H.B.G. — 25  261 


262  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

mained  at  the  Attenborough  farm  to  look  after  the  hippopotamus 
trophies. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  had  come  into  the  township  the  day  before, 
and  the  correspondent  went  out  to  meet  Colonel  Roosevelt  at  lunch 
at  the  Government  experimental  farm  on  the  Morendat  River, 
where  he  was  entertained  by  an  admiring  friend.  After  the  meal 
the  party  rode  over  the  farm  inspecting  the  flocks  of  sheep  and  the 
pedigreed  stock.  The  results  of  crossing  the  Merino  pure-bred 
rams  with  the  native  ewes  was  marvelous.  The  amount  of  wool 
on  the  cross-breds  was  most  surprising,  for  the  native  ewes  have 
none.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  very  much  interested  in  the  work. 

THE  RETURN  TO  NAIVASHA. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  returned  later  to  Naivasha  and 
found  that  R.  J.  Cunninghame,  general  manager  of  the  expedition, 
with  all  the  porters  and  the  baggage  had  only  just  arrived.  The 
men  were  busy  pitching  the  tents  near  the  water's  edge. 

Early  next*  morning  the  correspondent  went  down  to  the  camp 
and  had  breakfast  with  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  and  then 
started  off  in  a  small  rowboat  for  pelicans. 

They  had  not  gone  far  when  the  Colonel  brought  down  a  couple 
of  Egyptian  geese  with  a  very  pretty  shot.  The  boat  was  then 
turned  for  the  usual  hunting  grounds  of  the  pelicans  and  brought, 
with  the  least  possible  noise,  to  within  150  feet  of  two  fine  speci 
mens.  Colonel  Roosevelt  took  careful  aim  and  killed  a  splendid 
bird  with  a  single  shot  from  his  rifle.  The  specimen  delighted  the 
Colonel  beyond  measure.  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  after 
wards  indulged  in  shooting  gulls,  which  have  long  red  beaks  and 
legs  and  feathers  of  beautiful  slate  blue.  In  all  they  bagged  five 
fine  specimens  and  also  secured  a  complete  nest  with  three  eggs. 

Meanwhile  Major  Mearns  and  J.  Alden  Loring  had  been  busy 
and  had  secured  some  fine  specimens  of  the  bird  inhabitants  of  the 
lake. 

The  tiny  town  of  Naivasha,  which  boasts  a  six-roomed  hotel,  a 
white  store,  four  Indian  stores,  a  postoffice,  a  railway  station  and 
perhaps  twenty  houses  scattered  in  groups  of  four  or  five,  with 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST.  263 

long  stretches  of  stone-studded  velt  between,  was  the  nearest  point 
of  civilization  to  Colonel  Roosevelt  on  his  hunting  expedition  to 
the  nor i.h  of  Mombasa. 

Naivasha  used  to  be  a  great  cattle  center,  because  it  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  Masai  tribe,  and  when  the  British  took  posses 
sion  they  profited  by  this  circumstance  to  make  Naivasha  the  chief 
point  of  a  district.  But  now  business  has  moved  down  to  Nairobi 
and  officialdom  moved  up  to  Nakura,  on  the  lake  of  the  same  name, 
between  Naivasha  and  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  and  Naivasha  has 
left  to  it  only  its  delightful  climate,  since  its  altitude  of  6000  feet 
makes  it  tolerable  even  at  midday,  and  at  night  a  strong,  cool  breeze 
always  springs  up. 

Best  of  all  is  its  beautiful  lake,  also  called  Naivasha,  with  the 
volcano  Longanot  to  one  side  and  around  it  broad  plains  leading  to 
tall  distant  mountains  hemming  it  in  on  every  side  like  the  rim  of  a 
gigantic  basin. 

The  lake  is  believed  to  be  the  crater  of  an  old  volcano,  and 
scientists  say  that  once  it  must  have  reached  the  distant  mountains 
which  shaped  its  bed,  for  many  rocks  now  ten  miles  away  from  the 
waters  of  the  lake  are  marked  by  the  wear  of  mighty  waters, 

LAKE  NAIVASHA  AN  OLD  VOLCANIC  CRATER. 

Now  it  is  very  different,  and  while  Lake  Naivasha  is  eight 
miles  across,  no  soundings  have  proved  it  to  be  more  than  thirty 
feet  deep,  although  it  is  probable  that  at  different  points  there  are 
rifts  in  the  bottom  of  the  old  crater  forming  its  bed  which  give  it 
considerable  depth.  The  shores,  principally  on  the  Naivasha  side, 
are  skirted  with  papyrus  swamp  and  water  lilies,  the  water  being 
so  shallow  and  the  vegetation  so  thick  that  even  where  the  shore 
is  more  or  less  free  from  papyrus  one  must  wade  out  to  a  rowboat 
which  cannot  quite  come  in,  and  then  go  in  the  rowboat  to  a  sailboat 
if  one  intends  to  go  sailing. 

Lake  Naivasha  boasts  two  or  three  little  sailing  boats,  belong 
ing  to  settlers  along  its  banks,  but  its  principal  source  of  pride  is  a 
steam  launch  belonging  to  Commander  Attenborough. 

Four  miles  from  Naivasha  is  the  great  Masai  village,  where 


264  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST 

400  members  of  that  famous  warrior  tribe  live  in  forty  little  mud 
huts.  The  huts  are  built  in  a  circle  round  a  kraal  into  which  the 
cattle  are  brought  at  night.  There  are  entrances  from  without  at 
every  ten  or  twelve  huts,  the  rest  presenting  to  the  outside  world  a 
solid  wall  of  mud  and  tree  branch.  The  huts  are  eight  feet  long 
by  five  or  six  feet  in  breadth,  and  some  four  or  five  feet  in  height, 
and  in  these  ten  men,  women  and  children  will  sleep  quite  happily, 
piled  one  upon  another. 

The  Masai  are  very  like  American  Indians,  scorning  all  kinds 
of  work  and  requiring  their  wives  to  do  it  all.  You  will  see  long 
processions  of  them,  the  men  bearing  spears  and  shields  and  the 
women  struggling  after  with  the  burdens  of  wood  or  blankets  or 
whatever  may  be  needed  on  the  trek.  About  the  only  thing  which 
a  Masai  will  deign  to  carry  for  a  white  man  is  his  gun,  and  this  is  a 
source  of  joy  for  him. 

THE  WOMEN  ARE  THE  BURDEN-BEARERS. 

As  for  the  women,  they  condemn  themselves  to  burden-bearing 
all  their  lives.  As  soon  as  they  are  full  grown  steel  and  copper 
bands  are  placed  around  their  legs  from  ankle  to  knee,  and  again 
around  the  arms  from  wrist  to  elbow  and  sometimes  from  elbow  to 
shoulder  also,  forming  solid  coils  of  steel  and  copper,  each  section 
of  which  weighs  seven  or  eight  pounds.  Their  arms  grow  puffy 
and  distorted  over  the  edges,  and  their  legs  are  so  heavy  that  the 
women  acquire  in  youth  a  shambling  gait  which  they  can  never 
correct,  although  later  in  life  they  remove  the  leg  ornaments  and 
keep  only  those  on  the  arms. 

When  the  woman  reaches  maturity  she  adds  a  huge  spring-like 
collar  of  steel  to  her  equipment,  the  diameter  being  a  foot  or  more. 
Under  this  are  other  steel  or  copper  collars,  and  in  her  ears  are 
string  after  string  of  beads.  Taken  all  in  all,  her  steel  and  bead 
ornaments  average  a  weight  of  some  50  or  60  pounds.  This  metal 
tubing  almost  suffices  to  clothe  them,  but  they  wear  also  a  leather 
apron,  stitched  on  with  fiber,  which  they  can  never  remove,  and  in 
which  they  live  and  sleep  from  youth  to  old  age. 

A  short  time  ago  Lenana,  the  King  of  the  Masai,  came  with 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST.  265 

his  court  into  Nairobi  to  lodge  a  complaint  against  the  Kikuyus  for 
stealing  some  of  his  sheep.  A  few  years  later  he  would  have  sailed 
in  with  his  fierce  but  now  worthless  warriors  and  wiped  the  Kikuyus 
out.  It's  different  these  days.  Now  they  let  the  British  Govern 
ment  settle  their  difficulties  for  them.  Lenana  is  a  fine  old  savage, 
with  something  mongolian  about  his  cast  of  features.  His  royal 
robe  is  a  gorgeous  red  blanket,  and  his  insignia  are  a  marquise  ring 
of  fine  hammered  steel  which  covers  his  middle  finger  from  base 
to  tip,  and  an  earring  in  his  right  ear  which  causes  his  lobe  to  drop 
down  to  the  shoulder. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  July  24  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit 
proceeded  by  the  ordinary  passenger  train  to  Nairobi,  traveling  in 
the  traffic  manager's  carriage  or  on  the  cowcatcher.  Mr.  Cun- 
ninghame  followed  with  the  specimens  bagged  on  the  Sotik  trip  in 
a  special  train.  Major  Mearns  and  Mr.  Loring  remained  at 
Naivasha  collecting  birds. 

On  arrival  at  Nairobi  the  Colonel  was  met  by  William  N. 
McMillan  and  F.  C.  Selous,  who  was  on  his  way  home.  The 
Colonel  remained  in  animated  conversation  with  Mr.  Selous  until 
his  departure,  and  then  drove  to  Mr.  McMillan's  house,  where  he 
remained  as  a  guest  during  his  stay  in  Nairobi. 

ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTE. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  on  July  23  announced  that  through 
the  Roosevelt  expedition  a  collection  of  rare  animals  will  be  added 
to  those  now  in  the  National  Zoological  Park  near  Washington. 
The  announcement  was  in  part  as  follows : 

"  In  a  letter  received  at  the  institution  from  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Edgar  A.  Mearns,  of  the  expedition,  it  is  stated  that  the  collection 
includes  eleven  large  mammals  and  three  large  birds,  all  in  fine  con 
dition  and  for  the  most  part  well  broken  to  captivity,  as  follows: 
A  male  and  female  lion,  two  years  old ;  a  male  and  two  female  lions, 
twelve  months  old ;  a  female  leopard,  a  pet  of  Mrs.  McMillan ;  two 
cheetahs;  a  warthog,  two  years  old;  one  Thompson's  and  one 
Grant's  gazelle,  well  grown;  a  large  eagle  of  unusual  species,  a 
small  vulture  and  a  large  buteo.  Specimens  of  none  of  these,  except 
the  lions  and  leopard,  are  at  present  contained  in  the  park." 


266  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

Having  laid  aside  his  gun  for  a  few  days,  Colonel  Roosevelt 
turned  to  church  and  philanthropic  matters,  with  all  the  enthusiasm 
he  had  displayed  in  the  hunting  of  African  big  game.  The  ex- 
President  took  a  leading  part  in  the  installation  work  of  the  local 
Masonic  lodge  on  August  2,  and  Masons  from  all  over  that  part  of 
Africa  came  to  Narobi  for  the  occasion. 

The  day  before  Mr.  Roosevelt  attended  the  Scotch  Church  and 
was  the  recipient  of  an  impromptu  reception  after  the  service. 
Later  in  the  day  he  made  the  opening  subscription  for  a  projected 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  home  for  Nairobi.  The  Colonel's  adaptability  to  any 
and  every  occasion  that  presents  itself  had  greatly  impressed  the 
people  of  British  East  Africa. 

Before  leaving  Nairobi  the  Colonel  and  his  son  Kermit  were 
the  guests  at  a  public  banquet.  Frederick  J.  Jackson,  Governor  of 
British  East  Africa,  was  chairman  and  175  persons  sat  at  table. 

SOUVENIRS  OF  HIS  VISIT  TO  NAIROBI. 

Captain  Sanderson,  the  Town  Clerk,  read  an  address  of  wel 
come  to  the  former  President  of  the  United  States  and  afterward 
handed  him  the  address  inclosed  in  a  section  of  elephant  tusk 
mounted  in  silver  and  with  a  silver  chain. 

The  American  residents  of  the  protectorate  presented  Mr. 
Roosevelt  with  a  tobacco  box  made  of  the  hoof  of  a  rhinoceros, 
silver  mounted ;  the  skull  of  a  rhinoceros,  also  mounted  in  silver,  and 
a  buffalo  head.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  in  reply  to  the  toast  proposed  by 
Governor  Jackson,  said: 

"  I  wish  to  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  the  people  of  British 
East  Africa  for  their  generous  and  courteous  hospitality.  I  have 
had  a  thorough  good  time.  I  am  immensely  interested  in  the  coun 
try  and  its  possibilities  as  an  abode  for  white  men.  Very  large 
tracts  are  fit  for  a  fine  population  and  healthy  and  prosperous  settle 
ments,  and  it  would  be  a  calamity  to  neglect  them.  But  the  settlers 
must  be  of  the  right  type. 

"  I  believe  that  one  of  the.  best  feats  performed  by  members  of 
the  white  race  in  the  last  ten  years  is  the  building  of  the  Uganda 
Railroad.  I  am  convinced  that  this  country  has  a  great  agricultural 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST,  267 

and  industrial  future,  and  it  is  the  most  attractive  playground  in 
the  world.  It  most  certainly  presents  excellent  openings  for  capital 
ists,  and  ample  inducements  should  be  offered  them  to  come  here. 
The  home  maker  and  actual  settler,  and  not  the  speculator,  should 
be  encouraged  in  making  this  a  white  man's  country. 

"  Remember  that  righteousness  and  our  real  ultimate  self- 
interest  demand  that  the  blacks  be  treated  justly.  I  have  no 
patience  with  sentimentalists,  and  I  think  that  sentimentality  does 
more  harm  to  individuals  than  brutality.  Therefore  I  believe  in 
helping  the  missionary,  of  whatever  creed,  who  is  laboring  sincerely 
and  disinterestedly  with  practical  good  sense. 

"  It  is  natural  that  I  should  have  a  peculiar  feeling  for  the 
settlers.  They  remind  me  of  the  men  in  our  West,  with  whom  I 
worked  and  in  whose  aspirations  I  so  deeply  sympathize." 

COMPARES  EAST  AFRICA  WITH  AMERICAN  WEST. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Roosevelt  drew  a  comparison  of  the  condi 
tions  as  he  had  found  them  in  East  Africa  with  those  that  con 
fronted  the  pioneers  of  Western  America. 

The  Roosevelt  party  ended  their  season  of  inaction  in  Nairobi 
on  August  4  and  left  for  Naivasha,  where  preparations  were  made 
for  resuming  the  hunt.  A  big  crowd  gathered  at  the  station  to  bid 
the  Colonel  farewell,  and  he  was  forced  to  make  a  short  speech  just 
before  the  train  pulled  in. 

The  ex-President  and  Kermit  arrived  at  Kijabe  in  the  after 
noon,  and  without  loss  of  time  the  former  performed  the  ceremony 
of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  mission  church  and  school  for 
white  children.  In  a  brief  address,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said: 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  the  leading  race  to  help  those  who  are  back 
ward  to  a  higher  plane  of  education,  and  the  work  of  the  mission 
aries  in  this  movement  is  most  important.  I  am  particularly  pleased 
with  what  you  are  doing  by  your  schools  for  the  children  of  the  set 
tlers  in  this  country." 

After  the  corner-stone  ceremony  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  *  his  son 
Kermit  went  by  train  to  Naivasha,  where  they  arrived  later  in  the 
afternoon  and  at  once  went  into  camp. 


!2<a  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  had  received  many  letters  from  the  United 
States  containing  all  kinds  of  requests,  with  which  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  comply,  and  which  it  was  equally  impossible  for  him  even 
to  answer.  He  had  no  private  secretary,  and  excepting  once  or 
twice  when  a  personal  friend  had  enabled  him  to  catch  up  with  some 
of  his  mail  by  typewriting  for  him,  he  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the 
great  bulk  of  these  letters  unanswered. 

The  petitions  were  of  every  conceivable  nature,  including 
requests  for  live  wild  animals  for  zoological  gardens;  for  skins  of 
dead  animals;  for  large  snakes;  for  birds'  eggs;  for  teeth  and  claws 
of  lions  and  tigers  (the  writers  evidently  not  knowing  that  there 
are  no  tigers  in  Africa  and  that  it  would  utterly  spoil  the  value  of 
any  specimen,  whether  for  scientific  or  other  purposes,  to  mutilate 
it  by  taking  out  the  claws  and  teeth) ;  requests  for  plants,  for  picture 
post  cards,  which  are  naturally  not  to  be  found  in  the  African 
wilderness,  and  for  all  kinds  of  other  objects,  including  even 
pickled  meat  and  dried  meat  of  game. 

TROPHIES  OF  THE  HUNTING  EXPEDITION. 

Twenty  casks  and  nine  cases  containing  trophies  of  the  Roose 
velt  hunting  expedition  in  Africa  arrived  in  Washington  August  19. 
The  shipment,  which  comprised  Colonel  Roosevelt's  first  month's 
collection,  consisted  of  eighty-two  specimens,  as  follows :  Lions,  7 ; 
leopard,  i ;  cheetah,  i ;  spotted  hyena,  i ;  Cape  Hartebeest,  14;  white 
bearded  wildebeest,  5 ;  Neumann  steinbuck,  5 ;  Kirk  dik-dik,  i ; 
common  waterbuck,  3;  Chanler  reedbuck,  4;  Grant  gazelle,  9; 
Thomson  gazelle,  5 ;  eland,  i ;  Cape  buffalo,  4 ;  giraffe,  3 ;  hippo 
potamus,  i ;  wart  hog,  6 ;  Burchell  zebra,  7 ;  black  rhinoceros,  2,  and 
impalla,  2. 

The  cheetah  is  similar  to  a  leopard,  the  wildbeest  is  the  African 
gnu  and  the  hartebeest,  steinbuck,  dik-dik,  impalla  and  eland  are 
varieties  of  antelope.  While  no  new  species,  so  far  as  is  now 
known,  was  included  in  this  first  Roosevelt  shipment,  the  collection 
will  supplement  materially  the  specimens  already  in  the  National 
Museum.  It  is  unusual  to  secure  so  large  a  variety  of  mammals  in 
so  short  a  time. 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST.  269 

Together  with  this  shipment  of  the  Roosevelt  collection  were 
a  large  number  of  specimens  of  mice,  moles  and  other  small  animals, 
and  also  of  birds  gathered  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mearns  and  J. 
Alden  Loring,  of  the  expedition  party. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  on  August  21,  while  hunting  in  Kenya,  one 
of  the  seven  administrative  provinces  of  the  British  East  African 
protectorate,  killed  a  bull  elephant.  The  animal's  skin  was  taken 
care  of  by  Edmund  Heller  and  E.  J.  Cunninghame.  The  tusks  of 
the  elephant  weighed  80  pounds  each. 

When  shooting  elephants  it  is  often  necessary  to  creep  into  the 
herd  and  shoot  the  selected  bull  at  a  range  of  fifteen  to  thirty  yards. 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  accompanied  by  R.  Cunninghame,  followed  this 
procedure  and  killed  his  elephant  at  the  second  shot. 

A  DANGEROUS  SITUATION. 

Suddenly,  before  Mr.  Roosevelt  could  reload,  another  elephant 
bull  charged  him  at  close  range  from  the  herd.  Both  Mr.  Cun 
ninghame  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  got  behind  trees,  and  Mr.  Cunning 
hame  fired  and  turned  the  bull  from  Mr.  Roosevelt  just  in  time  to 
save  the  distinguished  hunter's  life. 

The  Kenya  Province  is  to  the  south  of  the  River  Gwaso  Nyiro 
and  to  the  east  of  the  Naivasha  Masai  preserve.  The  headquarters 
of  the  province  are  at  Fort  Hall,  the  public  road  to  which  place  was 
closed  by  the  government  officials  because  the  district  was  invaded 
by  man-eating  lions.  The  country,  specially  to  the  north  and  east, 
has  not  been  surveyed  thoroughly,  and  is  imperfectly  known.  The 
climate  is  mild  and  temperate. 

The  population  of  the  parts  of  Kenya  Province  already  known 
is  about  600,000,  divided  among  the  Kikuyu,  the  Masai  and  the 
Dorobos.  The  Masai  are  mostly  warlike  nomads,  who  long  were 
the  scourge  of  their  neighbors.  They  live  in  districts  under  chiefs, 
and  each  chief  must  be  a  retired  warrior. 

Lidj  Jeassue,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Abyssinia,  invited  Theodore 
Roosevelt  to  a  great  elephant  hunt,  promising  to  beat  up  a  white 
elephant  for  him  to  kill  and  otherwise  to  arrange  a  splendid  shooting 
programme. 


270  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

This  news  was  brought  into  Berlin  by  Adolf  Mayer,  a  kins 
man  of  King  Menelik  of  Abyssinia,  who  arrived  there  with  a  com 
mission  from  the  Abyssinian  Government  to  purchase  supplies. 

King  Menelik  sent  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  Wash 
ington  to  be  his  guest,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  declined,  explaining  that 
as  he  had  refused  the  invitations  of  several  European  sovereigns, 
he  could  not  make  an  exception  of  King  Menelik,  however  much  he 
might  desire  to  do  so.  It  was  then  arranged  that  the  Crown  Prince 
should  invite  Mr.  Roosevelt  unofficially.  Before  Mayer  left 
Abyssinia  a  mission  had  been  sent  to  hand  this  invitation  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt  wherever  it  could  find  him,  and  King  Menelik  was  hopeful 
that  the  former  President  of  the  United  States  would  accept  the 
invitation  in  its  present  form. 

AN  IMPRESSIVE  INVITATION. 

The  envoys  of  the  King  were  empowered  to  point  out  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  Mr.  Mayer  said,  "  that  there  is  unrivalled  elephant  hunt 
ing  in  Abyssinia.  The  Crown  Prince  will  send  out  5,000  horsemen 
to  encircle  an  immense  range  of  prairie  and  drive  in  the  elephants. 
Hundreds  and  possibly  thousands  of  elephants  could  be  thus  assem 
bled,  and  there  would  probably  be  one  or  two  white  ones  among  this 
number.  These  beasts  are  not  really  white,  but  merely  animals  of 
great  vigor  who  have  lived  to  be  gray  haired." 

When  it  was  suggested  that  the  Crown  Prince  of  Abyssinia 
was  only  fourteen  years  old,  Mr.  Mayer  replied  that  Abyssinians 
develop  young.  He  declared  that  the  Prince  was  an  expert  and 
adventurous  huntsman ;  that  he  spoke  English,  French  and  German, 
and  that  he  was  quite  capable  personally  of  showing  Mr.  Roosevelt 
fine  hunting. 

"  Many  stories  have  reached  the  court  of  King  Menelik,"  Mr. 

Mayer  said,  in  conclusion,  "  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  prowess  as  a  horse- 

•  man,  a  hunter,  a  soldier  and  an  administrator.     The  King  is  most 

keen  to  greet  him,  and  he  probably  would  go  to  the  borders  of  his 

country  with  a  great  following  to  receive  Mr.  Roosevelt." 

Mr.  Mayer  is  the  son  of  a  German  engineer  who  married  a 
sister  of  King  Menelik. 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 


271 


Colonel  Roosevelt  while  hunting  north  of  Guaso  Nyiro  killed 
three  more  elephants,  completing  the  group  intended  for  the  Smith- 


sonian  Institution,  at  Washington.     He  also  killed  a  bull  elephant 
for  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  at  New  York. 


272  A  SPORTSMAN  AND   NATURALIST. 

Other  game  bagged  includes  a  rhinoceros  with  excellent  horns,  a 
buffalo,  a  giraffe,  an  eland,  a  zebra,  an  ostrich  and  an  oryza.  Some 
skins  not  hitherto  collected  have  been  obtained  and  preserved  for 
the  Washington  Museum. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  also  did  some  shooting,  having  killed  two 
elephants  and  an  exceptionally  large,  fine  rhinoceros. 

Sixty- four  cases,  and  every  one  big  and  bound  with  iron  bands 
and  filled  with  all  that  remains  of  lions,  giraffes,  elephants,  hippo 
potami,  monkeys  and  other  beasts  which  would  still  be  roaming  the 
wilds  of  Africa  but  for  the  invasion  thereof  by  former  President 
Roosevelt,  arrived  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  October  12. 

The  sixty-four  cases  were  unloaded  from  the  Anchor  Line's 
steamship  Italia  at  the  pier  of  the  Union  Stores.  Every  case  was 
marked:  "  Smithsonian  Institute  National  Museum,  Care  of  Col 
lector  of  Customs,  Port  of  New  York.  From  Smithsonian  African 
Expedition,  R.  E.  X."  The  Italia  received  the  cases  at  Naples  from 
a  steamship  that  brought  them  from  Zanzibar. 

ROOSEVELT  PROUD  OF  HIS  ELEPHANTS. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  R.  J.  Cunninghame  arrived  at  Niavasha 
on  October  20  from  an  extended  hunt,  looking  extraordinarily 
brown  and  feeling  well.  They  were  delighted  with  their  expedi 
tion  and  Colonel  Roosevelt  said  that  both  he  and  Kermit  were  proud 
of  having  got  their  elephants,  and  especially  proud  that  they  had 
each  got  one  when  they  were  unaccompanied  by  such  experienced 
hunters  as  Cunninghame  and  Tarlton. 

The  skins  of  the  elephants  and  the  skulls  and  bones  were 
brought  in  by  porters.  The  huge  skulls  were  carried  by  eight 
porters,  with  reliefs  of  eight  more  every  now  and  then.  The  loads 
were  suspended  from  long  poles. 

The  Roosevelt  party  proceeded  to  Nairobi.  There  the  station 
was  crowded  with  officials  and  settlers.  Lord  Delamere  was  among 
those  to  greet  the  ex-President,  and  they  stood  for  a  few  minutes 
discussing  his  proposed  visit  to  Lord  Delamere's  ranch  at  Njoro  on 
his  return  from  the  Guaso  Nguisho. 


A  SPORTSMAN  AND   NATURALIST.  273 

On  October  25  the  party  left  again  for  Londiani,  from  which 
place  the  start  for  the  Guaso  Nguisho  was  to  be  made.  On  this  trip 
the  party  passed  over  the  "  Mau  Summit,"  8300  feet,  the  highest 
point  on  the  railway.  The  following  day  Edmund  Heller,  Kermit 
Roosevelt  and  Leslie  A.  Tarlton  started  for  Eldama  Ravine,  and 
were  followed  shortly  afterward  by  Colonel  Roosevelt.  The  jour 
ney  to  their  shooting  place  occupied  one  week,  and  they  spent  three 
weeks  there. 

Forrrer  President  Roosevelt,  on  October  27th,  celebrated  his 
fifty-first  birthday  with  a  hunt  in  the  African  wilds.  He  received 
the  congratulations  of  his  son,  Kermit,  and  other  members  of  his 
party  in  the  morning,  and  responded  with  brief  expressions  of 
thanks. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  health  was  excellent,  his  face  being 
bronzed  by  the  tropical  sun  and  his  powerful  frame  rugged  and 
hard  from  toiling  through  the  jungles  and  over  mountainous  passes. 
The  hunting  ground  was  in  what  was  known  as  Eldama  Ravine. 

A  SHARP   CONTRAST. 

Mark  the  contrast  between  Colonel  Roosevelt's  surroundings 
then  and  a  year  before!  At  that  time  he  was  comfortably  settled 
in  the  White  House  at  Washington.  He  was  at  his  desk  early,  and 
spent  the  day  hard  at  work  in  his  office  receiving  such  members  of 
his  Cabinet  as  were  in  town  at  the  regular  semi-weekly  meetings, 
'and  discussed  with  them  matters  relating  to  their  departments. 

Congratulatory  messages  poured  into  the  President's  office  at 
the  White  House  all  day.  Many  foreign  rulers  took  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  to  send  messages  of  warm  friendship  and  good  will 
through  their  diplomatic  representatives,  who  called  in  person  to 
present  them  to  the  President.  Many  others  of  the  White  House 
callers  were  persons  who  came  to  extend  their  congratulations. 

He  was  in  excellent  health,  and  was  looking  forward  to  the 
close  of  his  term  in  office,  and  his  big  hunting  expedition  in  Africa 
with  the  eagerness  of  a  boy. 

"  I  have  had  a  splendid  time  in  the  White  House,"  he  told  his 

friends.     "  I  have  no  regrets.     I  have  done  some  things.     I  have 
18— M.L. 


274  A  SPORTSMAN  AND  NATURALIST. 

lived,  and  am  counting  the  days  that  must  elapse  before  I  go  out  of, 
office.  Then  there  are  some  months  in  Africa.  I  shall  hunt  big 
game,  see  a  wonderland,  live  close  to  nature,  and  study  natural 
history." 

J.  Alden  Loring  and  Major  Edgar  A.  Mearns,  both  of  the 
Roosevelt  hunting  party,  returned  to  Nairobi  on  November  3,  from 
their  expedition  to  Mt.  Kenya. 

The  climbers  ascended  the  mountain  to  an  estimated  height  of 
16,000  feet,  reaching  the  highest  point  which  it  was  possible  to 
attain  without  the  aid  of  Alpenstocks.  This  was  within  700  feet  of 
the  summit.  They  collected  specimens  of  more  than  2,000  birds  and 
mammals  and  made  many  photographs  of  the  mountain. 

Mt.  Kenya  is  an  extinct  volcano.  It  is  16,700  feet  high  and 
supports  numerous  glaciers.  It  was  ascended  for  the  first  time  by 
MacKinder  in  1899.  The  timber  line  extends  to  the  10,300  feet 
level.  It  is  called  by  the  natives  "  Kimaja-Kegnia,  the  Mount  of 
Whiteness."  It  is  twelve  degrees  south  of  the  equator. 


CHAPTER   XX 
A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

ROOSEVELT  TAKES  PART  IN  AN  EXCITING  HUNT — SEES  LION- 
SPEARING — CELEBRATED  WITH  WAR  DANCE — KERMIT  HAS 
GREAT  LUCK — ELEPHANT  HUNTERS  OF  THE  CONGO  GIVE 
THE  COLONEL  A  WARM  GREETING. 

ALONG  stream  of  porters  came  winding  across  the  veldt, 
looking  for  all  the  world  like  a  string  of  ants.  The  Stars 
and  Stripes  was  held  aloft  by  a  giant  native,  and  the  sound  of 
horns  made  strange  discords  with  the  chanting  of  the  weird  and 
elusive  safari  song.  Shortly,  Colonel  Roosevelt  arrived  on  the 
back  of  his  favorite  horse,  Tranquility.  It  was  the  end  of  his  last 
trip  in  the  British  East  African  protectorate. 

This  safari,  which  was  the  fourth  to  be  made  out  of  Nairobi, 
gave  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  party  an  opportunity  to  witness 
an  exciting  hunt  at  A.  E.  Hoey's  farm  at  Sirgoi,  in  the  Guaso 
Nguisho  country,  and  the  spearing  of  a  lion  by  Mandi  warriors. 

Seventy  of  these  spearsmen  had  been  asked  to  take  part  in 
the  drive,  and  they  assented  readily,  for  when  a  warrior  spears  a 
lion  he  becomes  a  leader  of  the  fighting  section  of  the  tribe  and 
may  wear  a  head  dress  formed  of  the  lion's  mane,  and  walk  at  the 
head  of  the  file  of  Mandi  warriors  when  on  the  march.  In  these 
hunts  they  display  extraordinary  courage. 

The  band  of  seventy  almost  naked  men,  with  their  long, 
sharp  spears,  and  attended  by  the  chosen  spectators,  the  latter 
being  mounted,  proceeded  down  a  long  valley,  where  the  grass 
was  thick  and  thorn  trees  lined  its  edges.  Very  soon  a  lion  was 
observed  not  more  than  four  hundred  yards  in  front.  Immediately 
the  warriors  gave  chase,  and  in  less  than  two  miles  they  had 
rounded  up  the  king  of  the  wilderness.  The  horsemen  then 
approached  and  it  was  seen  that  the  lion  at  bay  was  a  fully  grown, 
black-maned  one.  The  spearmen  began  their  task  of  surrounding 

275 


276  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

the  quarry.  Kvery  man  went  to  his  allotted  position,  an<1.  the 
circle  slowly  closed  in  on  the  snarling  beast,  which  swished  his 
tail  and  kept  np  a  continual  roaring. 

The  warriors  drew  to  within  some  twenty  yards  of  him,  and 
the  horsemen  closed  up  to  see  the  kill,  yet  remained  at  a  sufficient 
distance  not  to  interfere  with  the  spearmen's  movements.  Three 
times  the  lion  made  a  savage  charge  at  the  now  stationary  warriors, 
but  stopped  short  each  time,  with  mane  bristling,  roaring  in 
impotent  rage  at  his  tormentors.  Again  the  attacking  party 
advanced  to  within  ten  yards  of  their  victim.  One  last  desperate 
effort,  and  he  drove  directly  at  the  line,  only  to  fall  with  ten  spears 
quivering  in  his  body.  But  in  that  brief  moment  he  managed  to 
drag  down  one  of  the  natives,  his  claws  sinking  into  the  man's 
flesh. 

INCENSED  AT  THE  KING'S  DEATH. 

The  death  of  the  king  seemed  to  awaken  all  the  fire  in  the 
warriors'  blood.  They  began  a  dance  of  triumph  around  the  body, 
waving  their  blood-stained  spears,  some  of  which  were  bent  by  the 
force  of  the  shock,  holding  their  shields  above  their  heads  and 
shouting  forth  blood-curdling  yells  in  the  excess  of  their  savage 
joy  over  the  victory. 

In  the  meantime  the  injured  man  was  being  given  medical 
attention,  and  he  bore  the  pain  of  his  wounds  without  a  sign  of 
concern.  He  who  had  first  jabbed  his  spear  through  the  lion 
joined  in  the  dance  at  the  start,  but  soon  retired  at  a  distance, 
where  he  seated  himself,  apparently  indifferent  to  the  antics  of  his 
fellows.  He  was  now  a  leader  of  men  and  must,  therefore,  show 
no  sign  that  he  had  done  anything  out  of  the  ordinary. 

The  luck  of  Kermit  Roosevelt  had  been  proverbial.  While 
Colonel  Roosevelt  was  hunting  with  Lord  Delamere,  Kermit  went 
off  with  R.  B.  Cole  and  his  Wanderobo  warriors.  The  Wanderobos 
are  adepts  at  killing  bango,  which  are  very  rare  and  only  to  be 
found  in  the  forests.  In  a  short  space  of  time  the  younger  Roose 
velt  had  secured  a  large  and  fine  specimen  of  the  female  bango. 

This  was  9  fc«.t  that  any  older  hunter  might  justly  be  proud 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  277 

of,  fcr  no  white  man  has  ever  before  stalked  and  shot  a  bango. 
There  are  only  two  cases  on  re  ord  of  a  white  man  shooting  bango 
with  the  aid  of  the  natives  an  i  their  dogs.  So  pleased  was  one  of 
the  residents  with  the  sucr  ,ss  of  the  youth  that  he  presented 
Kermit  with  a  fine  specimen  of  the  male  bango,  and  so  the  Smith 
sonian  Institution  will  have  a  complete  family  group,  the  only  one 
in  the  world. 

Commander  H.  Hutchinson,  superintendent  of  marine,  who 
went  up  with  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  party  to  Rhino  camp,  said 
that  the  former  President  bore  the  hardships  of  the  journey  splen 
didly,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  engine  broke  down  once 
or  twice. 

When  they  arrived  at  Koba  it  was  midnight,  but  they  found 
all  the  white  elephant  hunters  of  the  Congo  assembled  to  greet 
them.  Among  the  number  was  Chief  Engineer  Bennet,  of  the  lake 
steamers,  who  in  December  had  been  captured  by  the  natives,  but 
had  made  his  escape  after  enduring  tortures  for  five  days. 

ROOSEVELT  WOULD  NOT  DISCUSS  POLITICS. 

W.  H.  McMillan,  who  entertained  Colonel  Roosevelt  on  his 
ranch  near  Nairobi,  and  later,  while  on  a  visit  to  the  United  States, 
said : 

"  While  at  my  ranch  Colonel  Roosevelt  did  not  read  an  Ameri 
can  newspaper  or  magazine,"  said  Mr.  McMillan.  "  He  continu 
ally  refused  to  discuss  national  or  international  politics,  although 
many  residents  of  the  neighborhood  questioned  him  ojn  these  sub 
jects.  '  I  am  here  for  pleasure/  was  his  answer  to  one  and  all. 
'  When  I  return  to  the  United  States  I  will  say  what  I  think  about 
the  situation.' 

"  Colonel  Roosevelt  is  a  fair  shot,  not  an  extraordinary  marks 
man,"  continued  Mr.  McMillan.  "  Kermit  is  a  better  shot  than  his 
father,  as  Colonel  Roosevelt  admits  to  every  one  except  Kermit. 
He  is  afraid  it  would  make  the  young  man  think  too  much  of  himself 
to  telj  him  so.  It  does  not,  however,  take  any  wonderful  marks 
manship  to  hit  an  elephant  or  a  rhinoceros." 

Describing  Roosevelt's  adventures  in  Africa,  having  met  the 


278  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

t 

ex-President  on  his  hunting  trip,  E.  M.  Newman,  of  Chicago,  the 
African  explorer  and  lecturer,  said  in  an  interview : 

"  I  believe  that  the  two  expert  guides,  Tarleton  and  Cunning- 
hame,  have  done  much  to  keep  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  safety.  They  have 
stood  at  his  back  when  he  was  attacked  by  wounded  wild  beasts  and 
when  other  perils  threatened. 

"  Most  people  think  this  has  been  only  a  hunting  trip,  but  I  be 
lieve  that  is  the  smallest  end  of  it.  I  have  no  doubt  his  exploit  will 
be  an  inspiration  to  mankind. 

"  I  believe  that  nothing  less  than  an  attempt  to  grapple  with  the 
world's  problem  of  civilization,  with  the  continental  experiment 
possible  in  Africa,  was  what  was  in  his  mind. 

NATIVES  BELIEVE  HIM  TO  BE  A  "GREAT  KING." 

"  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  an  astonishing  hiker.  He  will  go  striding 
through  the  jungle  for  thirty  miles  a  day  and  then,  after  writing  in 
long  hand  until  late  in  the  night,  he  will  sleep  about  six  hours  and 
repeat  the  performance  the  next  day.  The  natives  in  his  party 
worship  him  and  believe  him  to  be  a  '  great  king/  Their  name  for 
him — Bwana  Tumbo — is  the  greatest  compliment  they  could  pay 
him.  The  fact  that  white  men,  whom  they  encounter,  pay  him  such 
deference  only  strengthens  their  belief  that  he  is  a  great  ruler. 

"  Roosevelt  is  just  now  going  into  the  districts  of  peril  from  the 
tsetse  fly.  I  followed  expert  advice  in  wearing  a  net  over  my 
helmet  all  the  time.  The  tsetse  fly  looks  like  the  ordinary  housefly. 

"  After  its  bite  there  are  no  symptoms  for  about  two  months, 
when  convulsions  occur,  the  red  corpuscles  disappear  from  the  blood, 
through  which  the  microscopic  germs  run  like  electric  eels.  The 
victims  fall  asleep.  It  is  called  the  sleeping  sickness.  It  swept 
away  300,000  in  Uganda  in  two  years. 

'  The  government  has  been  driving  the  natives  away  from  the 
water,  brush  and  shade,  where  the  fly  lives ;  otherwise  it  is  believed 
that  the  tsetse  fly  would  have  annihilated  them.  Four  years  ago 
there  were  20,000  on  the  Sese  Islands;  to-day  less  than  100  souls. 
The  tsetse  fly  took  all  the  rest." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  carried  with  him  on  his  African  trip  one  of  the 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  279 

most  complete  medical  and  surgical  outfits  ever  prepared  for  any 
explorer.  It  was  so  condensed  that  all  medicines  and  surgical  in 
struments  could  be  carried  in  a  suitcase. 

There  were  15,000  doses  in  the  tabloids,  nearly  forty  per  cent, 
of  them  quinine.  The  other  medicines  were  to  ward  off  diseases 
most  prevalent  in  equatorial  Africa,  chemicals  to  make  swamp  water 
pure  and  palatable,  cures  for  snake  bites,  stimulants,  opiates,  knives, 
and  bandages. 

These  supplies  were  packed  in  unbreakable  and  airtight  bottles 
of  a  vulcanite  composition,  and  fitted  into  an  aluminum  case 
15x10x8. 

Liquids  find  no  place  in  the  assortment  nor  in  the  outfit  for 
developing  photographs  prepared  for  Kermit  Roosevelt  by  the  same 
firm  and  put  in  equally  condensed  form. 

FIRE  THREATENED  TO  BURN  THE  CAMP. 

The  party  had  an  interesting  experience  that  had  not  been 
counted  on  upon  their  second  day  at  Rhino  Camp.  A  grass  fire, 
accidentally  started,  threatened  to  burn  up  the  whole  outfit,  which 
was  saved  only  by  the  energetic  work  of  all  hands,  including  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  who  led  in  clearing  the  grass  immediately  surrounding 
the  camp. 

Before  leaving  Rhino  Camp  the  hunters  got  three  more  white 
rhinos,  a  bull  buffalo  and  other  game.  Kermit  Roosevelt  made 
some  splendid  photographs  of  a  living  rhinoceros. 

The  American  hunters  and  scientists  in  the  Nile  broke  camp 
in  Belgian  Congo,  February  3,  and  sailed  on  the  waiting  boats  and 
steamers  up  Lake  Albert,  arriving  at  Nimule  the  following  day. 

"Mr.  Roosevelt  was  kind  enough  to  raise  his  hat  and  shake  hands 
with  our  great  ladies,  as  he  did  when  bidding  Prince  Joseph  good 
bye.  The  Baganda  who  witnessed  this  were  simply  mad  with  joy 
and  the  Mustawa  Kissa  (man  of  kindness)  has  won  all  our  hearts." 

Thus  wrote  Mother  Mary  Paul,  missionary  sister  in  charge  of 
the  Franciscan  mission  at  Nsambya,  Uganda,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend 
in  New  York. 

"  The  day  was  perfect,"  she  wrote,  "  and  the  whole  hill  was 


280  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

decorated  with  flags  and  glorious  palms.  Up  the  hill  came  the  four 
runners  who  had  been  sent  to  watch  when  the  rickshaws  turned 
toward  Nsambya.  They  arrived  breathlessly  to  say,  '  They  are 
coming.'  A  few  more  minutes  waiting  and  the  first  rickshaw  came 
into  sight  with  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  the  provincial  commissioner, 
Mr.  Knowles. 

"  Introductions  and  handshakes  followed.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
replied,  when  I  said  it  was  kind  of  him  to  come,  '  Kind !  Why, 
pitchforks  would  not  have  kept  me  away.  In  fact,  I  would  have 
been  afraid  to  go  back  to  the  United  States  if  I  hadn't  come  to  see 
you." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  gave  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  speci 
mens  of  the  white  rhinoceros  family  complete.  He  also  gave  two 
skins  to  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  at  New  York 
and  a  head  to  William  T.  Hornaday  for  his  collection.  Mr.  Roose 
velt  did  not  retain  any  of  the  white  rhino  trophies  which  he  secured. 

EXPEDITION   OF  GREAT   SCIENTIFIC  VALUE. 

The  ten  days  march  to  Gondokoro  from  Nimule  was  begun  on 
February  7,  the  distance,  roughly  speaking,  is  108  miles.  The  path 
lies  through  an  unpeopled  district  and  the  porters  were  well  bur 
dened  with  food  supplies  at  the  start. 

The  Colonel  and  Kermit  left  the  expedition's  trail  for  a  day's 
hunting  of  elephants  and  giant  elands  at  Rojaf,  on  the  Congo  side 
of  Bar-El- Jabal.  The  hunters  invaded  the  territory  upon  the  special 
and  eagerly  accepted  invitation  of  the  Belgian  authorities. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  were  accompanied  in  the  Congo 
by  E.  B.  Haddon,  the  British  district  commissioner,  stationed  at 
Mpumu,  Uganda.  The  commissioner  met  the  expedition  at  Kiriba 
camp,  sixteen  miles  to  the  south  of  Gondokoro.  A  commodious 
brick  house  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

A  special  runner  arriving  in  advance  of  the  expedition  brought 
the  following:  "Colonel  Roosevelt  states  that  he  has  heartily  en 
joyed  the  entire  trip  through  British  East  Africa,  Uganda  Protec 
torate  and  the  Lado  Enclave.  He  is  particularly  pleased  over  his 
success  in  hunting  white  rhinoseri  in  the  Belgian  Congo.  He 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  281 

feels  that  the  results  of  the  expedition  will  be  of  real  and  great 
scientific  value." 

The  Colonel  and  the  other  hunters  arrived  at  Gondokor©  on 
February  17.  They  had  passed  through  the  most  trying  stage  of 
their  African  journey.  For  ten  days  they  had  been  practically 
isolated  in  a  wilderness  so  forbidding  to  the  white  men  that  it  has 
not  been  invaded  by  the  telegraph  companies.  The  country  is  rough 
and  the  heat  intense,  the  only  communication  between  its  scattered 
villages  being  through  native  runners. 

The  dangers  of  the  march  from  Nimule  are  understood  by  those 
familiar  with  the  dubious  route,  and  to  these  the  safe  arrival  at 
Gondokoro  brings  a  feeling  of  relief. 

At  Gondokoro  there  are  a  few  shops  belonging  to  Greeks  and 
Indians  and  a  few  traders  make  their  headquarters  there.  The 
steamboats  owned  by  the  Sudan  Government  call  once  a  month  for 
passengers  and  the  mails  for  Khartoum. 

GONDOKORO  AN  IVORY  AND  SLAVE  CENTRE. 

Gondokoro  is  a  famous  mission  station  and  market  place  in  the 
territory  of  the  Bari  tribe  of  Soudanese.  It  is  on  the  White  Nile 
about  200  miles  north  of  Albert  Nyanza.  A  British  military  post 
was  established  there  in  1871.  In  former  times  Gondokoro  was  a 
great  centre  of  the  ivory  and  slave  trade,  and  an  ivory  market  is 
still  maintained  there. 

Pope  Gregory  XVI.  established  a  mission  there  in  1846  and  the 
pro- vicar  Koblecher  founded  a  station  in  1851.  A  succession  of 
misfortunes,  including  the  death  of  Koblecher  in  April,  1858,  and  a 
famine  in  1859,  led  to  the  final  abandonment  of  the  station. 

The  entrance  into  Gondokoro  of  the  ex-President  was  rudely 
picturesque,  and  nothing  that  British  and  native  hospitality  could 
suggest  was  lacking  in  the  welcome.  The  arrival  of  the  expedition 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  town  was  heralded  with  bugle  blasts  by  Chief 
Keriba's  bugle  band,  which  led  the  van.  Chief  Keriba  accompanied 
his  musicians. 

The  native  party  had  met  the  expedition  sixteen  miles  to  the 


282  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

south,  and  en  route  here  did  it  all  the  honor  that  could  be  gotten  out 
of  their  instruments  of  brass  and  Indian  drums. 

Reaching  the  town  the  band  struck  up  "  America,"  which,  hap 
pening  to  be  the  British  national  air,  suited  the  occasion  exactly. 
Belgian  marches  were  interspersed.  Following  the  musicians  a 
native  porter  carried  a  large  American  flag.  Then  came  the  cara 
van  proper,  Colonel  Roosevelt,  Kermit,  the  other  American  hunters 
and  scientists  and  the  body  of  native  porters  who  have  had  an  im 
portant,  if  humble,  share  in  the  work  of  exploration. 

Waiting  on  the  Bar-El-Jabel  was  the  launch  of  General  Sir 
Reginald  Wingate,  of  the  Egyptian  army,  and  from  the  vessel  were 
flying  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  Mr.  Roosevelt  boarded  the  launch  at 
once  upon  reaching  there,  and  after  a  brief  rest  began  the  reading 
of  his  mail.  Many  communications  awaited  him. 

HUNTING  EXPEDITION    NEARLY  ENDED. 

Kermit  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Loring  distinguished  themselves 
during  the  day.  A  native  had  fallen  into  the  river  near  the  steamer, 
occupied  by  Colonel  Roosevelt,  and  was  drowned.  Kermit  and  Mr. 
Loring  learned  of  the  accident  and  in  an  effort  to  recover  the  body 
dived  into  the  water,  heedless  of  the  dangers  from  the  crocodiles 
and  the  swift  current.  They  escaped  harm. 

The  Governor  of  Mongalla,  the  Belgian  commandant  at  Lado 
and  other  officials  called  upon  Colonel  Roosevelt  during  the  forenoon. 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  Kermit  and  Edmund  Heller,  the  zoologist, 
left  Gondokoro  February  18,  on  a  steamer  for  a  final  week  of  shoot 
ing  along  the  river  banks. 

R.  J.Cunninghame,  the  field  naturalist;  Major  Edgar  A.  Mearns 
and  J.  Alden  Loring  did  not  accompany  the  Colonel  but  remained 
at  Gondokoro  to  pack  the  specimens,  dismiss  the  porters  and  others, 
who  accompanied  the  Colonel  as  helpers,  and  wind  up  the  details 
incident  to  the  close  of  the  expedition.  With  the  exception  of  the 
river  excursion  the  hunting  was  practically  ended. 

February  26  was  breaking  up  day  for  the  Smithsonian  African 
scientific  expedition,  all  of  the  porters  and  half  of  the  servants  re 
turning  to. Kampala  and  Nairobi. 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  283 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  during  his  hunt  along  the  Nile,  killed  two 
bulls  and  one  cow  of  the  rare  giant  Eland  type.  He  was  much 
elated  at  his  success. 

The  eland  is  the  largest  of  all  the  antelopes.  It  reaches  the  size 
of  a  large  horse  and  may  weigh  as  much  as  iioo  pounds.  The 
expression  of  the  face  is  gentle  and  sheep-like ;  the  body  is  thick  and 
heavy,  but  the  limbs  are  slender.  Its  disposition  is  in  keeping  with 
its  looks.  Easily  domesticated,  it  is  a  valuable  animal  for  Africa. 
The  meat  is  said  by  many  to  be  superior  to  beef,  but  has  a  peculiar 
venison-like  flavor. 

THE  ELAND  ALWAYS  RUN  AGAINST  THE  WIND. 

The  eland  is  the  one  antelope  that  is  naturally  fat ;  and  in  good 
pastures  it  becomes  so  heavy  that  it  is  easily  run  down  in  the  wild 
state  by  dogs  or  horses ;  but  it  has  been  observed  that  the  eland  will 
always  run  against  the  wind  whenever  possible  if  pursued,  and  this 
gives  it  an  advantage  over  the  horse.  Like  the  majority  of  ante 
lopes,  the  eland  seems  to  be  independent  of  water,  frequenting  the 
most  desert  localities  far  from  streams  and  rivers.  The  striped 
eland  is  a  rare  specimen  and  seldom  seen. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit,  together  with  the  members  of 
their  shooting  party,  who  returned  to  Gondokoro  on  the  evening  of 
Saturday,  February  26,  on  the  Belgian  boat  Boch,  spent  Sunday  in 
resting  up,  their  experiences  during  the  past  few  days  in  search  of 
giant  elands  having  proved  rather  fatiguing. 

In  the  evening  the  party  dined  with  the  district  commissioner, 
who  remarked  on  Colonel  Roosevelt's  fine  health.  The  others 
showed  need  of  rest  after  an  arduous  year's  trip. 

The  Colonel  confessed  to  his  first  malady  since  leaving  New 
York — a  slight  attack  of  homesickness.  The  confession  came  after 
the  receipt  of  a  message  from  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  had 
arrived  at  Naples,  preparatory  to  going  to  Khartoum  to  meet  him. 
When  notified  that  a  committee  of  Westerners  would  meet  him  in 
Khartoum  in  an  effort  to  get  him  to  return  to  the  United  States  by 
way  of  the  Pacific  coast,  the  ex-President  shook  his  head. 

"  I  want  to  get  home  as  quickly  as  possible,"  he  said.     "  When 


284  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

I  was  in  the  jungle  I  didn't  really  allow  myself  to  think  of  home  or 
business.  But  now  that  the  hunt  is  practically  over  I  am  getting 
anxious  to  see  Sandy  Hook. 

"  My  plans  for  visiting  Berlin,  Paris  and  London  have  been 
made  for  months  and  I  have  no  thought  of  changing  them  now." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  really  and  truly  delighted  to  receive  the 
message  from  his  wife. 

"  It  made  me  realize  just  how  near  '  home  '  I  was  getting,"  he 
said,  with  a  laugh.  Regarding  the  hunt  Mr.  Roosevelt  said: 

"  I  expected  a  bully  time,  but  it  has  been  several  times  more 
pleasureable  than  I  anticipated.  Twenty  years  from  now  it  will  be 
impossible  to  have  such  a  hunt." 

FAREWELL  TO  THE  DISTINGUISHED  GUEST. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  on  February  28,  started  on  his  advance 
toward  Khartoum.  The  party  set  off  on  the  Dal,  the  Soudan 
government  boat  put  at  its  disposal.  Gondokoro  was  abroad 
early  to  bid  farewell  to  its  distinguished  guest  and  his  companions, 
and  every  man  in  the  settlement,  white,  brown  or  black,  turned  out 
to  cheer. 

The  immediate  destination  was  Mongalla,  a  river  station,  where 
an  enthusiastic  reception  had  been  prepared.  The  start  was 
auspicious.  Escorted  by  officials  and  the  black  bugle  corps,  the 
Roosevelt  party  advanced  to  the  little  steamer,  whose  whistle 
tooted  a  valiant  welcome.  When  the  lines  were  cast  off,  a  cheer 
went  up  that  echoed  for  miles  over  the  desert. 

The  vessel  was  a  comfortable  river  boat,  fitted  out  with  all  the 
(onveniences  the  white  man  has  brought  into  the  desert,  and  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  shaven  and  clad  no  longer  in  khaki,  but  in  tweeds,  can 
•\gain  be  considered  in  civilization.  The  trip  to  Khartoum,  where 
(here  were  many  Americans  awaiting  Mr.  Roosevelt,  occupied  about 
two  weeks. 

Dr.  Rodoric  Prosch,  a  French  medical  missionary,  who  lunched 
with  Colonel  Roosevelt  on  February  28,  suddenly  died  of  African 
fever  at  noon  the  following  day. 

This,  those  who  followed  the  trail  of  the  expedition  say,  was 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  285 

but  another  instance  of  "  Roosevelt  luck  "  which  had  attended  the 
American  hunters  and  scientists,  and  that  they  were  to  be  congra 
tulated  upon  their  escape  from  the  dreaded  fever  that  had  followed 
in  the  wake  of  the  long  hunt. 

At  a  camp  joining  that  occupied  by  the  Americans  at  Gondokoro 
an  English  sportsman  was  seriously  ill  following  a  trip  to  Kampala, 
the  capital  of  Uganda,  and  one  of  the  places  at  which  the  Smith 
sonian  scientific  expedition  stopped. 

The  district  commissioner  of  Gondokoro,  the  British  officials  of 
which  were  most  active  in  entertaining  their  American  guests,  had 
been  stricken  with  the  fever  and  was  confined  to  his  bed. 

Dr.  Prosch  had  done  missionary  work  in  Africa  for  ten  years. 
During  this  time  his  health  had  been  gradually  undermined  by  the 
debilitating  climate.  His  collapse  was  attributed  to  a  weakened 
condition  that  could  not  resist  an  attack  that  he  might  have  survived 
a  few  years  before. 

DR.  PROSCH  A  MAN  OF  LIBERAL  IDEAS. 

At  the  luncheon  Dr.  Prosch  seemed  in  excellent  spirits  and  had 
a  lengthy  talk  with  the  ex-President  about  missionary  work,  prov 
ing  himself  a  man  of  liberal  ideas.  Dr.  Prosch  and  Colonel  Roose 
velt  expected  to  meet  again  in  Paris. 

Later  Dr.  Prosch  collapsed  and  died  within  five  minutes.  At 
sunset  he  was  buried  on  the  very  spot  where  he  died,  bugles  sound 
ing  taps  over  the  newly-made  grave. 

When  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  the  others  of  his  party  left  on  the 
steamer  Dal  they  were  all  in  good  health  and  little  the  worse  for  their 
rough  experience. 

The  Colonel  considers  that  the  killing  of  the  giant  elands 
in  his  excursion  along  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Nile  was  a  fitting 
ending  to  a  marvelously  successful  trip.  The  results  generally  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  hunter  and  the  scientist  have  exceeded  all  ex 
pectations. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  son,  Kermit,  have  killed  some  five 
hundred  specimens  of  large  mammals.  The  bag  includes  the  follow 
ing  :  Seventeen  lions,  eleven  eiephants,  ten  buffaloes,  ten  black  rhino- 


286  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

ceroses,  nine  white  rhinoceroses,  nine  hippopotami,  nine  giraffes, 
three  leopards,  seven  chetahs,  three  giant  elands,  three  sables,  one 
sitatunga  and  two  bangos. 

All  these  were  killed  in  the  interest  of  science  and  the  specimens 
were  disposed  of  accordingly,  the  greater  number  going  to  the 
Smithsonian  Institute.  Mr.  Roosevelt  retained  not  more  than  six 
trophies  for  himself. 

From  the  point  of  importance  the  most  highly-prized  game  may 
be  rated  as  follows :  First,  giant  elands,  the  first  complete  specimens 
of  which  family  were  taken  from  the  country;  second,  the  white 
rhinoceros ;  third,  the  bangos,  the  first  to  be  stalked  and  killed  by  a 
white  man,  and  fourth,  the  sitatunga,  a  species  of  antelope. 

THE  EXPEDITION  VERY  SUCCESSFUL. 

The  naturalists  secured  a  remarkable  collection  comprising 
many  thousands  of  birds  and  other  mammals.  The  results  in  this  line 
have  been  most  gratifying  and  science  will  be  enriched  by  several 
new  species  and  an  enormous  series  of  the  smaller  mammals  of 
Africa.  The  game  taken  and  the  collections  made  constitute  a 
world's  record  for  a  similar  period  of  hunting  and  scientific  research 
in  Africa  and  the  American  museums  will  receive  the  greatest  col 
lection  of  African  fauna  in  existence. 

The  work  reflects  the  greatest  credit  upon  all  members  of  the 
party  whose  labors  continued  ceaselessly  despite  the  disadvantages 
of  the  climate. 

All  agree  that  too  much  praise  cannot  be  accorded  R.  J.  Cun- 
inghame,  the  Englishman,  whose  management  of  the  expedition  was 
as  nearly  perfect  as  could  be  conceived. 

Teddy's  out  of  Jungle-land 

The  beasts  may  now  rejoice, 
The  wanderoo  and  wombat 

May  give  their  gladness  voice, 
Cut  the  same  old  capers, 

Make  the  same  old  jungle  noise, 
While  he's  a-marching  to  Khartoum. 
HBO— tt 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  287 

Colonel  Roosevelt  arrived  at  Mongalla  on  March  2,  and  imme 
diately  after  landing  performed  the  ceremony  of  planting  a  tree  to 
commemorate  his  visit. 

The  preceding  day  the  Colonel  encountered  a  foretaste  of  the 
strenuous  hospitality  which  characterized  his  progress  through  the 
Soudan  and  Europe. 

Leaving  Gondokoro  in  the  morning,  he  arrived  at  noon  at 
Lado,  an  attractive  station  on  the  Encalave  section  of  the  Congo. 

At  the  landing  stage  the  strapping  Congolese  soldiers  under 
Commandant  Rekke  formed  a  guard  of  honor  and  escorted  the 
Colonel  from  the  landing  stage,  while  hundreds  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  nearby  villages  followed  in  procession,  anxious  to  see  the 
khaki-shirted  "  King  of  Americani." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  entertained  at  luncheon  by  tne  com 
mandant,  the  company  numbering  ten  in  all. 

THE  COLONEL  IN  HAPPY  MOOD. 

The  Colonel  was  in  his  happiest  mood,  speaking  French  exclu 
sively,  and  keeping  the  company  laughing  with  his  humorous  tales 
of  hunting  in  America  and  Africa. 

He  had  only  a  few  hours  respite  before  reaching  Mongalla, 
where  the  reception  was  much  more  elaborate,  as  Colonel  Owen, 
Governor  of  the  Province,  has  been  for  years  an  admirer  of  Colonel 
Roosevelt's  words  and  deeds. 

A  huge  American  flag  flew  from  a  special  flagstaff.  It  flut 
tered  between  the  red-crossed  emblem  of  the  Soudan  and  the  Union 
Jack  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Soudanese  troops  formed  a  guard  of  honor  for  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  whose  military  ardor  is  as  strong  as  ever.  He  was  parti 
cularly  struck  by  the  general  bearing  of  these  soldiers. 

After  dinner  at  the  Governor's  residence  the  guest  of  honor 
witnessed  a  native  dance  arranged  for  his  entertainment.  A  thou 
sand  or  more  native  warriors  in  wonderful  ostrich  headdresses  and 
with  their  bodies  decorated  here  and  uncovered  there  after  the 
African  native  mode  and  carrying  terrifying  broadhead  spears. 

Surrounding  the  dancers  were  hundreds  of  carriers,  and  in  a 


288  A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI. 

knot  hundreds  of  beaters  of  tomtoms,  who  uttered  their  barbaric 
cries  and  made  a  nerve-wrecking  din  with  their  musical  instruments 
of  gourds  and  hide.  The  scene  was  illuminated  with  hundreds  of 
torches. 

The  natives  exhausted  their  repertory  of  dances  for  the  visitor 
and  it  was  the  finest  display  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  seen  in  Africa. 
The  party  left  in  the  morning  for  Lake  No. 

BEYOND  THE  SEA. 

Beyond  the  sea  the  lion  ceases  roaring, 

On  Africa's  coral  strand, 
A  respite  glad  his  health  is  now  restoring, 

For  Teddy  leaves  his  land. 

Beyond  the  sea  the  jungle  monkeys  chatter 

And  say  that  things  look  bright; 
The  tiger,  gnu,  rhinoceros,  don't  scatter 

And  refuge  take  in  flight. 

Beyond  the  sea  there's  much  contented  grunting, 

The  wild  hyena  laughs; 
The  elephant  has  trumpeted :  "  No  hunting ! 

And  no  more  photograps !" 

Beyond  the  sea  the  tom-toms  are  a-drumming, 

Farewell  to  Theodore ; 
All  Africa  with  business  is  now  humming, 

Dried  up  the  trail  of  gore. 

He  will  not  change  for  monkeys,  lions,  tigers, 

The  empire  of  the  West, 
Sweet  Oyster  Bay's  cool  plunge  for  torrid  Niger's, 

The  man  who  knows  no  rest. 

WALTER  BEVERLEY  CRANE,  in  Life. 

Captain  Fritz  Duquesne,  of  German  East  Africa,  lion  hunter 
and  Boer  war  fighter,  at  one  time  considered  by  ex-President 
Roosevelt  to  head  his  African  expedition,  expressed  fear  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  and  members  of  his  party  had  not  escaped  infection  from 
the  sleeping  sickness. 

"  It  is  highly  probable,"  said  Captain  Duquesne,  "  that  every 


A  LION-SPEARING  SAFARI.  289 

member  of  the  Roosevelt  party  now  has  the  virus  of  the  sleeping 
sickness  in  his  veins.  It  may  not  develop  until  they  reach  Europe, 
or  even  America.  The  sleeping  sickness  sometimes  is  not  mani 
fested  in  the  person  for  several  months  after  the  infection  occurs. 
It  is  well-nigh  incredible  that  the  Roosevelt  party,  passing  through 
so  many  of  the  sickness  zones,  has  escaped  infection." 

The  Court  of  Common  Council  at  London,  on  March  3,  unani 
mously  adopted  a  resolution  conferring  the  honorary  freedom  of 
the  city  on  Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  recognition  of  "  the  distinguished 
manner  in  which  he  filled  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  for  the  eminent  service  which  he  rendered  the  cause  of  civiliza 
tion,  and  the  promotion  of  amicable  relations  between  foreign 
nations." 

The  mover  of  the  resolution,  and  the  member  who  seconded 
the  same,  spoke  in  the  most  eulogistic  terms  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  de 
claring  that  the  city  would  honor  itself  in  feting  the  distinguished 
American,  "  whose  heart  is  big  enough  to  hold  the  whole  world  in 
friendship." 

A  reception  committee  was  appointed,  specially  charged  to  see 
that  nothing  was  lacking  to  make  the  event  memorable  and  "  worthy 
of  Roosevelt  and  his  outstanding  position  in  the  world." 

On  March  4  one  hundred  and  fifty  prominent  New  Yorkers 
were  named  to  comprise  the  committee  to  give  Colonel  Theodore 
Roosevelt  a  welcome  from  his  hunting  expedition  in  Africa. 

This,  the  first  step  in  the  official  preparations  for  the  memor 
able  greeting  which  it  was  planned  to  give  the  former  President, 
was  taken  by  Mayor  Gaynor  following  a  consultation  with  William 
Loeb,  Jr.,  former  secretary  to  President  Roosevelt,  and  collector  of 
the  port  of  New  York,  who  was  given  general  charge  of  the  wel 
coming  arangements  by  authorization  of  both  President  Taft  and 
Colonel  Roosevelt. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt  headed  the  welcoming  committee  as 
chairman,  the  second  name  being  that  of  Mr.  Loeb.  The  other 
members  comprised  a  representative  selection  from  the  ranks  of  the 
city's  best-known  men  of  affairs  and  the  professions. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT. 

THE  TRIP  DOWN  THE  NILE — THE  EXPEDITION  A  HUGE  SUCCESS 
' — MANY  RARE  SPECIMENS  OBTAINED — A  PERILOUS  THREE 
DAYS  TRIP — KERMIT  A  DEADLY  SHOT — INTERESTED  IN 
NATIVES— ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  DAL — ARRIVAL  AT  KHAR 
TOUM — GREETED  BY  OFFICIALS — CHEERED  BY  CROWDS. 

OOUND,  common  sense  has  been  a  distinguishing  characteristic 
^  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's  public  and  private  life.  Neither  friend 
nor  enemy  can  deny  it.  He  has  preserved  a  perfectly  "  level  head  " 
despite  all  the  agencies  working  to  turn  it.  An  overplus  of  flatter 
ing  attentions  and  invitations  has  been  heaped  upon  him,  and  yet 
his  mental  equilibrium  has  not  been  upset.  The  Emperor  of 
Germany  and  the  President  of  France  vied  with  each  other  in 
planning  to  receive  him  with  royal  honors  on  his  return  from  Africa, 
but  he  steadily  declined,  though  professing  his  deep  appreciation 
of  their  proffered  courtesies,  to  be  treated  otherwise  than  as  a 
private  citizen  of  the  United  States.  It  is  this  adherence  to  demo 
cratic  principles  that  has  made  him  popular  with  the  people,  and 
there  is  no  subject  in  which  he  becomes  interested  that  the  great 
American  public  does  not  also  immediately  become  interested. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  left  the  United  States  in  March,  1909,  with 
the  best  wishes  of  millions  of  Americans  that  his  expedition  would 
prove  successful  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  and  that  he  would 
have  a  safe  return.  This  great  expedition  being  a  fact  and  the 
fondest  hopes  of  the  scientists  who  made  up  the  party  were  more 
than  realized. 

The  guns  of  the  expedition  no  longer  are  of  use,  as  the  hunt 
officially  ended  with  the  killing  at  Lado  Ensclave  of  a  leopard, 
cheetah,  waterbuck  and  various  kinds  of  antelopes.  With  the  addi 
tion  of  these  animals  the  collection  of  fauna  is  regarded  as  complete 
as  possible. 

290 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT,  291 

No  killing  was  done  wantonly.  Time  and  again  game  was 
spared,  the  hunters  becoming  naturalists  and  studying  the  habits 
and  characteristics  of  the  animals. 

Thirteen  thousand  specimens,  many  extremely  rare,  were  ob 
tained.  They  make  a  remarkable  collection,  including  lions,  white 
and  black  rhinoceroses,  elephants,  hippopotami,  nyc^a^  «,nd  dig  dig. 
The  latter  is  an  antelope  smaller  than  a  jack  rabbit. 

The  collection  is  regarded  not  only  by  the  party,  but  by 
Africans,  as  remarkable.  Its  like  does  not  exist.  The  work  of 
collecting  was  attended  with  great  hardships  and  much  personal 


danger. 


ROOSEVELT  ESCAPES  ELEPHANT. 


In  one  instance,  Colonel  Roosevelt  shot  a  bull  elephant  without 
noticing  that  another  was  near  by.  The  latter  dashed  at  him, 
touching  the  Colonel  with  its  trunk  as  it  passed.  The  hunter  saved 
himself  by  a  quick  jump  behind  a  tree. 

Nearly  every  day  dangerous  incidents  were  recorded,  but, 
fortunately,  not  a  single  white  man  in  the  party  was  injured 
throughout  the  expedition.  The  Colonel  and  Kermit  retained  their 
health,  thus  disproving  Professor  Starr's  gruesome  suggestion  made 
in  Chicago  that  they  probably  would  be  ill.  The  other  four  whites 
were  ill,  and  also  some  of  the  blacks,  one  of  the  latter  dying.  On 
the  last  hunt  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  son  were  the  only  ones  in 
the  party  who  were  in  fit  condition  to  shoot. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  especially  touched  by  the  action  of  the 
men  in  saving  the  last  bottle  of  water  for  his  use. 

Every  man  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  bravery  of  the 
others  in  the  party.  The  blacks  were  particularly  enthusiastic 
regarding  the  Colonel  and  Kermit.  They  have  a  keen  affection 
for  the  former,  because  of  the  interest  and  care  he  had  manifested 
for  their  welfare. 

Eleven  blacks,  garbed  in  the  remnants  of  civilized  costumes, 
one  with  the  lobes  of  his  ears  cut  in  twain,  surrounded  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  standing  at  attention,  while  he  pointed  them  out  to 
visitors. 


292  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING   HUNT. 

Two  gun-bearers,  with  teeth  filed  to  a  point,  seemed  on  springs, 
ready  to  act  whenever  the  master  ordered.  They  are  described  as 
fearless,  but  like  children,  who  frequently  are  naughty,  and  must 
be  punished.  At  the  same  time  they  are  faithful.  Colonel  Roose 
velt  entertains  a  real  attachment  for  the  blacks  and  regretted  the 
separation  when  they  returned  to  Mombosa. 

As  an  indication  of  the  hardships  suffered  one  of  the  members 
of  the  party  tells  of  a  trip  Colonel  Roosevelt  undertook  lasting  three 
days,  during  which  he  struggled  afoot  through  a  thick  jungle  under 
the  burning  equatorial  sun  searching  for  game.  He  was  afoot  14 
hours  the  first  day,  13  hours  the  second  day,  and  12  hours  the  third 
day. 

"  Bwano  Tumbo  is  a  mighty  hunter,"  said  Cuninghame  with  a 
smile,  "  but  if  his  laurels  have  been  imperilled  at  all  on  this  expedi 
tion  it  has  been  by  Kermit,  who  is  one  of  the  deadliest  shots  and 
nerviest  men,  young  or  old,  I  ever  met." 

RECEPTION  AT  THE  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  party  left  Taufikia  on  the  night  of 
March  9,  and  arrived  at  Kodok  at  eight  o'clock  the  following  morn 
ing.  At  the  American  mission  at  Doleib  Hill  on  the  Sobat  river 
the  travelers  were  received  with  much  enthusiasm.  During  the 
stop  at  Taufikia  all  of  the  officers  of  the  garrison  were  invited  to 
meet  Colonel  Roosevelt  at  tea. 

Doleib  Hill  is  the  northernmost  missionary  outpost  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Africa,  and  was  visited  by  Dr. 
Charles  P.  Watson,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  several  years  before.  The  entire 
region,  Dr.  Watson  said,  was  infested  with  poisonous  snakes,  which 
come  out  of  the  ground  when  the  wet  season  sets  in,  and  literally 
swarm  over  the  hill  or  knoll  upon  which  the  mission  buildings  stand. 

Most  of  these  snakes,  he  said,  were  poisonous,  and  the  bite  of 
a  certain  species  produced  almost  instant  death.  The  bites  of 
another  species  were  equally  fatal,  he  added,  but  the  victim  usually 
suffered  intensely  for  several  hours  before  death  brought  the  only 
known  relief.  Many  of  the  exciting  experiences  which  the  mis- 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT.  293 

sionaries  stationed  at  that  point  had  undergone  as  a  result  of  these 
snakes,  furnished  an  interesting  chapter,  he  said,  in  the  history  of 
the  enterprise. 

According  to  Dr.  Watson,  the  Doleib  Hill  mission  was  founded 
in  1901.  It  is  in  the  heart  of  a  wild  and  unsettled  section  of  the 
country.  Previous  to  the  conquest  of  the  Soudan  by  Lord  Kitchener 
and  the  Egyptian  forces,  two  years  previous,  the  country  that  far 
North  along  the  Nile  was  impenetrable  for  missionaries  and  other 
white  men. 

The  mission  is  in  charge  of  seven  Americans,  including  two 
industrial  missionaries,  one  ordained  missionary  and  a  medical  mis 
sionary.  The  work  at  this  station  has  moved  chiefly  along  indus 
trial  lines,  and  extensive  experiments  have  been  made  in  discovering 
what  trees,  plants  and  vegetables  can  be  successfully  grown  in  that 
section  of  the  country. 

THE  NATIVES  VERY  PEACEABLE  TO  THE  MISSION. 

The  utter  isolation  of  the  American  missionaries  at  this  point  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  the  nearest  station  to  it  is  Khartoum,  more 
than  five  hundred  miles  away.  Communications  between  the  two 
places  is  limited  to  a  small  steamer  which  reaches  Doleib  Hill  once 
every  two  or  three  weeks.  The  region  is  sparsely  populated,  there 
being  only  500,000  in  the  entire  Soudanese  province.  They  have 
proved  unexpectedly  peaceable  towards  the  missionaries,  though  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  persuade  them  to  give  up  their  savage  customs. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  visit  to  the  mission  was  made  at  the  invi 
tation  of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Mission  Board  previous  to  sailing 
for  Africa,  according  to  Dr.  Watson. 

'  When  we  learned  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  intended  to  traverse 
the  entire  course  of  the  Nile  from  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza  to  Alex 
andria,  on  the  Mediterranean,"  said  Dr.  Watson,  "  we  asked  him 
to  visit  our  station  along  the  route.  He  gave  us  no  definite  promise, 
but  said  he  would  visit  as  many  as  circumstances  would  permit." 

Speeding  down  the  White  Nile  the  government  steamer  Dal, 
with  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  son,  Kermit,  on  March  12,  was  at  a 
point  little  more  than  200  miles  south  of  Khartoum,  the  capital  of 


294  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT. 

the  Egyptian  Soudan.     "  Full  speed,"  was  the  order  issued  by  the 
captain  of  the  Dal  at  the  Colonel's  request. 

In  tow  of  the  steamer  was  a  barge  containing  thousands  of 
the  specimens  which  Colonel  Roosevelt  came  to  Africa  to  bag.  They 
constitute  the  largest  collection  of  specimens  ever  taken  out  of 
Africa.  In  it  were  some  extremely  rare  specimens ;  the  first  whole 
skin  of  the  great  eland  which  was  killed  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  and 
Kermit,  after  great  hardships ;  a  white  eared  kob,  a  Gray's  waterbok, 
a  shoebill  stork  and  a  dik-dik,  an  antelope  about  the  size  of  a  jack- 
rabbit.  Eleven  Africans  who  accompanied  the  expedition  were  in 
charge  of  the  barge  and  specimens.  Colonel  Roosevelt  lauds  the 
courage  and  faithfulness  of  the  Africans. 

ROOSEVELT  PROUD  OF  HIS  SUCCESS. 

The  barge  looked  like  a  crowded  animal  cemetery  with  the  lid 
off.  Colonel  Roosevelt  surveyed  it  triumphantly.  He  was  very 
proud  of  his  success  and  of  Kermit's. 

He  passed  most  of  the  time  on  the  Dai's  deck,  from  which,  not 
infrequently,  he  saw  in  the  Nile  hippopotami  as  huge  as  those  for 
which  he  journeyed  so  much  further.  Water  fowl  were  abundant 
and  a  variety  of  small  game  constantly  excite  a  stranger's  interest. 
But  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  no  longer  Bwana  Tumbo.  His  eager 
ness  to  kill  for  the  sake  of  science  was  ended. 

He  found  joy  enough  basking  in  the  fine  weather.  The  mer 
cury  sometimes  flirts  around  100  in  the  shade  in  the  afternoons,  but 
the  cool  nights  and  mornings  give  ample  opportunity  to  recuperate. 

Truly  remarkable  was  the  health  enjoyed  by  Colonel  Roosevelt 
and  his  son,  practically  the  only  two  members  of  the  expedition, 
among  the  whites,  at  least,  who  escaped  sickness.  Slight  attacks, 
such  as  most  of  the  party  experienced,  were  only  natural,  in  view 
of  the  hardships  endured,  heat  of  the  tropics,  noisome  places  through 
which  the  expedition  was  compelled  to  pass  at  times,  and  deadly 
insects. 

The  Sesse  islands,  through  which  the  steamer  threaded  on  the 
trip  to  Eutebbe,  are  a  monument  to  the  devastation  wrought  by  the 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT.  295 

tsetse  fly,  for,  once  well  populated,  they  are  now  devoid  of  human 
life  through  the  sleeping  sickness  scourge. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  displayed  the  greatest  concern  in  the  care  of 
the  party  and  native  attendants.  His  personal  interest  was  shown, 
when  one  of  the  correspondents,  who  had  been  within  touch  of  the 
expedition  from  the  very  beginning,  was  forced  to  drop  behind  on 
one  of  the  long  marches.  He  was  finally  brought  up  by  porters, 
who  carried  him  many  miles  in  a  hammock,  and  after  that  dragged 
him  many  more  in  a  rickshaw.  Colonel  Roosevelt  immediately 
insisted  that  Dr.  Mearns  take  the  case  in  hand,  and  when  the  doctor 
decided  that-  an  operation  was  necessary,  the  former  President 
volunteered  to  assist. 

INTERESTED   IN  NATIVES. 

Nothing  pleased  the  ex-President  more  than  the  native  guards 
of  honor  which  turned  out  at  every  conceivable  place  to  greet  his 
coming.  At  one  of  the  stations  in  Uganda  a  native  contingent, 
with  two  bands,  one  a  fife  and  drum  and  the  other  composed  of 
brasses,  marched  to  a  private  house,  where  Colonel  Roosevelt  was 
a  guest  at  lunch,  and  drew  up  for  review. 

The  manner  in  which  the  training  of  the  natives  is  carried  out 
interested  Colonel  Roosevelt  greatly.  He  saw  uneducated  natives 
taking  and  sending  messages  by  Morse  code  and  semaphore,  with 
flags,  by  lamp  and  heliograph.  Although  these  signal  men  do  not 
know  what  the  message  means,  yet  they  never  make  a  mistake  in 
sending  or  receiving. 

Looking  the  picture  of  health,  with  physical  fitness  showing  in 
every  line,  Theodore  Roosevelt  arrived  at  Khartoum  on  March  14 
from  the  long  trail,  over  which  he  had  spent  nearly  a  year  in  the 
pursuit  of  game. 

Thousands  of  persons  had  gathered  to  see  him,  and  they 
descried  from  afar  the  familiar  form  and  more  familiar  smile — 
made  so  even  to  those  who  had  never  before  set  eyes  on  the  ex-Pre 
sident  by  the  countless  pictures  of  him  which  had  been  published. 

Later  in  the  day  there  was  a  joyous  reunion  of  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  their  children,  Kermit  and  Miss  Ethel,  in  the 


296  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT. 

north  station  of  Khartoum,  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  her  daughter  arriv 
ing  there  about  half-past  5  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

A  launch  carrying  the  representatives  of  the  governor  general 
of  Anglo-Egyptian  Soudan,  Major-General  Sir  Francis  Reginald 
Wingate,  sirdar  of  the  Egyptian  army,  met  the  steamer  Dal  up  the 
river.  On  this  small  craft  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  the  members  of 
his  party  had  voyaged  for  more  than  1300  miles  from  Gondokoro 
in  Uganda,  where  they  embarked  on  February  28. 

It  was  a  wearisome  trip,  for  there  was  little  to  be  seen,  and  the 
latter  part  of  the  voyage  was  exceedingly  uninteresting,  the  river 
sometimes  being  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  with  mud  flats  on  either 
side,  where  only  crocodiles  abounded,  and  toward  the  end  Colonel 
Roosevelt  displayed  considerable  anxiety  to  be  ashore. 

OFFICIAL  GREETING  AT  KHARTOUM. 

The  White  Nile  was  more  placid  than  the  preceding  day,  when 
a  heavy  northwest  gale  stirred  up  the  water  and  threatened  delay 
to  the  anxiously  awaited  steamer,  and  the  sirdar's  launch  was  able 
to  proceed  a  long  distance  up  the  river,  bearing  the  first  official 
greeting  to  Khartoum's  distinguished  guest. 

The  sirdar's  staff  officers  were  taken  aboard,  and  when  the 
steamer,  with  the  American,  British  and  Egyptian  flags  flying, 
arrived  at  Gordon's  Tree,  they  were  seen  surrounding  the  former 
President  on  the  bridge.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  attired  in  khaki 
and  wore  a  white  helmet. 

For  several  hours  the  Dal  tied  up  opposite  Gordon's  Tree, 
within  sight  of  Khartoum,  and  during  that  time  Colonel  Roosevelt 
occupied  himself  in  answering  hundreds  of  cablegrams  and  letters, 
which  had  accumulated  there. 

All  observers  remarked  his  fitness  and  energy,  and  among 
them  were  those  who  had  noted  in  Colonel  Roosevelt  when  he  left 
New  York  a  year  before  the  effects  of  the  strain  of  a  long  and 
strenuous  term  in  office.  From  these  effects  he  has  now  completely 
recovered,  and,  although  apparently  the  hardships  which  he  under 
went  in  the  wilds  of  Africa  had  not  reduced  his  flesh  to  any'appre- 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT.  297 

ciable  degree,  he  looked,  to  use  his  own  words,  able  to  "  hit  the  line 
hard." 

Although  the  ex-President  had  refused  to  grant  an  interview 
or  give  out  a  statement  on  public  questions  until  he  was  in  possession 
of  the  fullest  information  on  all  points,  he  realizes,  he  said,  that  he 
had  before  him  a  series  of  harder  working  days  than  jungle 
hunting. 

Shortly  after  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  steamer  came  up 
slowly  to  the  palace  dock,  amid  a  continuous  volley  of  cheers. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  was  warmly  greeted  by  Major-General  Sir  Rudolf 
Baron  Slatin  Pasha,  inspector  general,  and  Major  P.  R.  Phipps,  the 
sirdar's  private  secretary. 

He  and  other  members  of  the  party  were  conducted  to  the  palace 
grounds,  where  the  heads  of  the  various  governmental  departments 
were  introduced  and  tea  was  served.  The  sirdar's  palace  is  situated 
in  the  center  of  six  acres  of  beautiful  gardens.  It  stands  on  the 
site  of  Gordon's  palace,  on  the  steps  of  which  Gordon  was  slain. 

MEETS  WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER. 

After  tea  the  Colonel  and  his  son  crossed  the  river  to  the 
Khartoum  north  station,  where  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  Miss  Ethel 
arrived  shortly  afterward  on  an  express.  Arrangements  had  been 
made  so  that  the  meeting  was  in  private,  and  the  reunited  family 
remained  within  the  palace  car  for  some  time,  coming  forth  laugh 
ing  and  happy.  They  returned  together  to  the  sirdar's  palace. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  spoke  enthusiastically  about  his  hunting  trip, 
but  he  acknowledged  that  he  was  a  trifle  homesick  and  was  not  sorry 
to  return  to  civilization. 

The  party  secured  an  enormous  bag  of  game  in  the  Sudd  dis 
trict,  where,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said,  they  had  not  been  troubled  at  all  by 
mosquitoes,  which  usually  are  an  almost  unbearable  pest. .  The 
Colonel  was  much  interested  in  the  Uganda  missions,  and  spoke  in 
high  terms  of  the  Lado  Enclave,  which  he  visited. 

The  steamer  Dal,  upon  which  the  American  members  of  the 
Smithsonian  African  expedition  made  the  trip  from  Gondokoro, 
was  delayed  somewhat  by  the  unusually  turbulent  waters  of  the 


298  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING   HUNT. 

White  Nile,  but  the  party  was  able  to  keep  within  one  hour  of  the 
schedule  time  for  the  arrival. 

A  steam  launch  filled  with  newspaper  correspondents  who  had 
been  sent  from  all  parts  of  the  world  accompanied  the  Dal  in  the  last 
part  of  the  trip. 

Upon  the  pier  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  pressed  by  an  enormous 
and  enthusiastic  crowd,  all  anxious  for  the  nearest  possible  view 
of  the  American,  but  his  escort  saved  him  from  any  possible  dis 
comfort. 

Khartoum  endeavored  to  conceal  her  disappointment  because 
Colonel  Roosevelt  did  not  come  out  of  the  wilds  literally  swinging 
his  hat  and  whooping.  The  Soudan  had  pictured  Roosevelt  as  a 
rampant  Yankee  filled  with  an  irresistible  enthusiasm,  and  it  ex 
pected  that  he  would  advance  with  a  cowboy  flourish. 

THE  COLONEL'S  SECOND   DAY  IN   KHARTOUM. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  second  day  in  Khartoum  was  given  up 
largely  to  sight-seeing,  and  the  most  interesting  place  of  all  to  the 
former  President  was  the  battlefield  of  Kerreri,  which  lies  seven 
miles  north  of  Omdurman.  It  was  there  that  the  advance  of  the 
Anglo-Egyptiau  army,  under  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener,  was  contested 
by  the  Khalifa  and  his  troops,  numbering  about  40,000,  and  it  was 
here  that  the  bodies  of  1 1 ,000  dead  Dervishes  were  counted  the 
following  day. 

An  escort  of  picturesquely-attired  Soudanese  cavalry  was  in 
waiting  when  the  yacht  came  to  her  dock.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
inspected  the  squad,  and  then  the  party  mounted  camels  prepara 
tory  to  the  seven-mile  trip  over  dusty  roads. 

The  first  halt  was  at  the  monument  erected  to  the  Twenty- 
first  Lancers,  who  here  received  their  baptism  of  fire.  In  this 
battle  the  Laucers  made  a  desperate  charge  to  save  the  day,  but 
they  fell  into  an  ambush  at  one  of  the  dry  water  courses  seaming 
the  plain,  and  many  of  them  were  speared  by  the  Dervishes. 

Thence  they  proceeded  to  a  hill  overlooking  the  battlefield. 
Slatin  Pasha,  Inspector  General,  explained  the  position  and  attack, 
and  graphically  described  the  operations.  Colonel  Roosevelt 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT.  299 

astonished  the  Inspector  with  his  marvelous  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  Omdurman  and  the  military  tactics  employed  by  both 
the  British  and  Khalifa's  troops.  The  party  then  returned  to  the 
Elfin  and  proceeded  to  the  palace,  thoroughly  delighted  with  the 
trip. 

Beginning  with  an  early  return  trip  on  the  following  day  to 
the  Omdurman  battlefield  and  visits  to  a  half  dozen  of  the  inter 
esting  places  in  the  city,  the  party  returned  to  the  palace  in  the 
afternoon  and  prepared  to  witness  the  gymknana  races  at  the  polo 
grounds. 

The  trip  to  Omdurman  was  made  by  steamboat,  and  was 
under  personal  supervision  of  Colonel  Hutchinson,  who,  with  the 
officers  and  shieks  that  met  the  party  at  Omdurman,  was  dressed 
in  picturesque  robes.  A  brief  ceremony  marked  the  landing  of 
the  boat  at  the  battlefield. 

VISITS  OF  ABSORBING  INTEREST. 

Slatin  Pasha,  Inspector  General,  again  played  an  important 
part  in  entertainment  of  the  guests.  After  their  return  to  Khar 
toum  he  conducted  them  to  the  house  where  he  was  imprisoned 
in  the  war  of  twelve  years  before. 

The  Khalifa's  house  was  another  interesting  point  visited,  as 
was  also  the  mahdi's  tomb,  which  was  rifled  of  the  body  of  the 
mahdi  and  almost  ruined  after  the  British  occupation.  General 
Gordon's  piano,  with  which  the  famous  general  whiled  away  his 
hours  in  the  palace  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  shown 
the  party.  The  piano  is  dilapidated,  but  is  guarded  as  one  of  the 
prized  possessions  of  the  city. 

While  at  Omdurman  Colonel  Roosevelt  inspected  the  Twelfth 
Soudanese  regiment,  which  gave  a  special  drill  in  his  honor.  The 
soldiers  were  dressed  in  khaki  uniforms  with  orange-tufted  tarboo- 
shers,  presenting  a  picture  that  brought  high  praise  from  the 
former  rough  rider.  The  Colonel  was  surprised  at  the  military 
tactics  displayed  by  the  Egyptian  soldiers,  and  remarked  to  Slatin 
Pasha  that  it  spoke  volumes  for  the  efficacy  of  English  military 
training. 


300  TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING  HUNT. 

Slatin  Pasha  regaled  the  party  for  an  hour  that  afternoon 
with  vivid  accounts  of  his  thirteen  years'  captivity.  He  showed 
them  the  well  that  he  dug  with  his  own  hands  and  the  courtyard 
that  he  built  in  his  prison  home. 

The  final  day  was  made  up  of  various  functions,  one  of  which 
was  at  the  Egyptian  Club,  where  he  impressed  the  Egyptian  offi 
cers  with  the  importance  of  not  mixing  politics  with  soldiering. 

The  Colonel  gathered  the  remaining  members  of  his  African 
expedition  around  him  at  a  lunch  in  the  palace,  and  there  were 
many  exchanges  of  friendship  before  farewells  were  said.  The 
guests  included  Sir  Alfred  Pease,  who  was  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
first  host  in  Africa ;  Clayton  Bey,  of  the  Sirdar's  staff,  and  Captain 
Meredith,  of  the  steamer  Dal,  on  which  the  party  came  from 
Gondokoro. 

A  PAINFUL  FAREWELL. 

The  ex-President  tried  to  make  the  affair  as  lively  as  possible, 
but  he  was  considerably  moved  when  it  came  to  shaking  hands 
with  those  whom  he  is  not  likely  to  see  again  for  a  long  time.  He 
expressed  the  greatest  admiration  for  Captain  Cunninghame's 
strenuous  and  unremitting  labors,  and  those  of  the  naturalists,  by 
reason  of  which  the  expedition  had  been  such  a  marked  success. 

After  an  inspection  'of  the  missions,  under  the  guidance  of 
Bishop  Gwynne,  Colonel  Roosevelt  attended  a  reception  at  the 
Grand  Hotel,  where  he  again  met  the  officials  of  Khartoum. 
Mrj.  Roosevelt  and  Miss  Ethel  were  engaged  most  of  the  day  in 
packing  up  -preparatory  to  leaving  for  Cairo,  and  were  unable  to 
attend  the  functions,  which,  however,  were  graced  by  the  presence 
of  many  ladies. 

The  band  of  the  Twelfth  Soudanese  Infantry  played  a  special 
programme  of  native  music,  which  is  peculiarly  weird  and  inspir 
ing,  for  the  benefit  of  Colonel  Roosevelt.  Later  a  group  of  native 
women  gave  an  exhibition  of  dances  peculiar  to  the  Soudanese. 

In  a  speech  at  the  Egyptian  Officers'  Club  Colonel  Roosevelt 
advised  the  officers  to  drop  politics  while  they  were  soldiers.  He 
was  a  soldier  himself,  he  said,  and  a  politician,  but  he  never  let 
them  intermix  r  , 


TRIUMPHANT  CLOSE  OF  A  THRILLING   HUNT.  301 

After  three  of  the  liveliest  days  Khartoum  had  seen  outside 
of  war  times  the  people  were  loath  to  see  the  ex-President  depart, 
and  much  of  the  last  day  was  taken  up  by  prominent  persons  who 
called  to  bid  him  good-by.  Among  the  farewells  were  those  to 
the  members  of  the  hunting  expedition,  who  made  the  return  trip 
to  America  by  a  different  route  from  the  Colonel. 

THE   MOST  POPULAR    MAN   IN   THE   WORLD. 

The  title  of  a  private  citizen,  which  Colonel  Roosevelt  wears, 
is  more  of  a  talisman  in  Kurope  now  than  the  crown  of  any  king. 

Nothing  could  indicate  this  more  clearly  than  the  great  prep 
arations  that  were  made  in  the  capitals  of  the  countries,  that  he 
visited,  to  receive  him  with  great  distinction.  No  crowned  head 
was  ever  shown  such  great  honors  as  were  shown  to  the  former 
President  of  the  United  States. 

This  is  true,  too,  despite  the  fact  that  Col.  Roosevelt  all  along 
insisted  that  he  be  received  in  an  unofficial  capacity.  Had  he 
permitted  the  various  countries  to  follow  their  own  inclinations 
regarding  the  rece'ptions  to  be  accorded  him,  his  tour  through 
Europe  would  have  been  one  of  continuous  triumph. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  is  the  most  interesting  personality  in  the 
world  to-day,  according  to  the  European  viewpoint,  which  same 
viewpoint  also  makes  it  likely  he  will  be  a  figure  to  reckon  with 
when  he  returns  to  America. 

The  effect  of  the  homage  shown  him  by  European  countries 
is  sure  to  be  an  enhancement  of  his  popularity  at  home,  and  many 
in  England,  Germany,  France  and  other  countries  of  Europe  will 
be  surprised  if  the  political  exigencies  of  America  do  not  again 
•sweep  him  into  the  Presidential  Chair. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

A  SUCCESSION  OF  PERFECT  MIRAGES — VISITS  THE  GREAT 
ASSUAN  DAM — LAUDS  MISSION  WORKERS — LIONIZED  IN 
CAIRO — GUEST  OF  THE  KHEDIVE — WANDERS  AMONG  TOMBS 
OF  KINGS — VIEWS  SPHINX  BY  MOONUGHT — VISITS  TEMPLE 
OF  BULLS — "  NOT  A  LION  DID  HIS  DUTY  " — THE  COLONEL 
ATTENDS  EASTER  SERVICE. 

WHILE  rambling  through  the  ruins  of  the  land  of  the  Nile, 
descending  into  the  dark  tombs  of  ancient  kings,  studying 
the  hieroglyphs  and  communing  with  the  celebrated  Sphinx,  an 
American  citizen  attracted  the  attention  of  the  entire  world.  In 
ancient  Egypt,  potentates  did  him  honor;  at  home,  the  newspapers 
printed  daily  stories  of  his  activities. 

What  was  the  meaning  of  it?  What  was  there  in  a  visit  to 
Africa,  or  in  an  exploration  of  the  tombs  of  the  mummies,  that 
aroused  such  intense  interest? 

Why  were  the  things  which  Theodore  Roosevelt  did  in  a  fara 
way  land  chronicled  with  a  minuteness  and  detail? 

Everything  that  happened  concerning  the  nation,  or  policies 
of  government,  seemed  to  be  considered  from  this  angle — What 
did  Roosevelt  think  of  it,  and  what  would  he  have  done  about  it  ? 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  not  the  first  ex-President  of  these 
United  States  who,  surviving  his  term,  visited  foreign  lands.  He 
was  not  the  first  to  have  indulged  his  literary  fancies.  Yet,  there 
is  something  in  him  and  in  what  he  did  that  make  him  different 
from  all  the  others. 

Shrewd  observers  of  all  sorts  agree  that  Roosevelt  is  the  most 
extraordinary  personality  in  our  population,  and  in  some  sense  in 
the  whole  world.  He  is  hated,  he  is  loved,  he  is  feared,  he  is 
criticised,  he  is  analyzed,  but  in  every  case  the  conclusion  is  that  he 
is  a  force  to  be  dealt  with,  that  he  is  a  great  man. 

H.B.G.— 29 

302 


ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.          303 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  family  arrived  at  Wadi-Halfa  from 
Khartoum  on  the  evening  of  March  18,  and  boarded  the  steamer 
Ibis  for  Shellal,  which  lies  some  150  miles  down  the  Nile,  at  the 
head  of  the  First  Cataract,  close  to  the  great  Assuan  reserve  dam 
and  adjacent  to  Philae,  where  are  the  temples  of  Isis  and  other 
works  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

"  The  desert  offers  a  striking  contrast  to  the  green  of  the 
wilderness  where  I've  been,"  observed  the  Colonel,  while  making 
the  long  journey  from  Khartoum  to  Haifa.  "  The  mirages  on 
both  sides  of  the  Sotik  remind  me  of  those  I  saw  in  the  Sotik 
country  in  British  East  Africa.  In  one  I  saw  a  rhinoceros  which 
I  believed  to  be  standing  in  a  shallow  lake,  which  proved  to  be  a 
mirage." 

OLD  EGYPT'S  MAGNETIC  ATTRACTIONS. 

In  the  meantime  the  lure  of  old  Egypt  holds  Colonel  Roosevelt 
and  his  family.  They  passed  Sunday  inspecting  and  wondering  at 
the  submerged  ruins  at  Philae  and  the  tombs  and  the  great  dam 
at  Assuan,  the  largest  in  the  world,  planned  to  reservoir  a  thousand 
million  cubic  metres  of  water  (234,000,000,000  gallons)  to  irrigate 
lower  Egypt,  under  the  pitiless  sun.  They  returned  weary  but 
enthusiastic  to  sleep  on  the  Nile  steamboat  before  they  start  for 
Luxor,  the  site  of  ancient  Thebes. 

The  express  for  Luxor  was  crowded  with  tourists  returning 
to  Europe.  A  special  car  had  been  provided  for  the  Roosevelt 
family,  and  they  dined  by  themselves  during  the  trip.  v  The  journey 
was  a  very  dusty  one,  without  special  incident.  The  scenery  along 
the  route,  however,  afforded  some  diversion,  giving,  as  it  does,  a 
practical  illustration  of  the  utility  of  the  great  Assuan  Dam,  which 
has  enabled  the  natives  to  cover  the  countryside  with  wheat  and 
other  crops  in  the  dry  season. 

When  the  former  President's  party  reached  the  station  at 
Assuan  he  was  greeted  by  the  tourists  from  the  Cataract  Hotel 
and  by  a  number  of  Egyptian  officials.  In  answer  to  their  cordial 
reception,  he  made  a  brief  address  in  which  he  repeated  practically 
the  words  spoken  previously  to  the  Egyptian  officers. 


3W  ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

• 

American  Consul  General  Lewis  Morris  Iddings,  stationed  a't 
Cairo,  was  the  first  to  greet  the  Roosevelts  on  their  arrival.  He 
led  them  across  the  platform  to  a  spot  where  a  group  of  ladies  and 
a  party  of  Egyptian  officials  were  waiting  to  be  introduced.  From 
the  station  the  party  were  driven  to  the  Winter  Palace  Hotel,  which 
was  well  filled  with  visitors 

They  were  greeted  by  a  great  number  of  American  citizens, 
many  travelers  having  waited  to  see  the  former  President.  Colonel 
Roosevelt  held  a  reception  at  the  Hotel,  and  shook  hands  with  more 
than  a  hundred  visitors  from  the  United  States,  and  as  each  passed 
he  made  characteristic  remarks,  which  served  to  recall  old  days  in 
the  White  House.  At  the  close  of  the  reception  the  visitors  gave 
three  cheers  and  then  broke  forth  with  the  slogan : 

"What's  the  matter  with  Roosevelt?     He's  all  right!" 

This  caused  the  Colonel  to  smile,  and  he  said ': 

"  I  wish  I  could  give  three  cheers  for  every  State  from  Cali 
fornia  to  Massachusetts." 

COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  RECEIVES  MANY  ATTENTIONS. 

The  attentions  which  were  bestowed  upon  Colonel  Roosevelt 
increased  to  an  impressive  degree  as  he  approached  the  areas  which 
contained  a  greater  white  population.  They  did  not  fall  short  of 
those  conferred  upon  royalty  itself 

Indeed,  the  Kaiser's  son,  Prince  Eitel,  who,  with  his  wife,  was 
traveling  in  Egypt,  was  completely  eclipsed  by  the  greater  star, 
and  did  not  receive  one-tenth  part  of  the  homage  which  was  be 
stowed  upon  the  former  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
Colonel  left  Assuan  a  few  hours  before  the  arrival  of  Prince  Eitel 
and  his  wife.  He  telegraphed  the  Prince  expressing  his  regret 
that  his  plans  prevented  their  meeting  there. 

Immediately  after  breakfast  the  next  morning  the  Roosevelt 
party  left  the  hotel  and  crossed  the  Nile  to  Felucca.  Horses  were 
provided.  Kermit  was  dressed  in  riding  clothes  and  Colonel  Roose 
velt  wore  khaki.  Carriages  were  used  by  his  wife  and  daughter, 
Mr.  Iddings  and  Mr.  Abbot.  Mounting  spirited  Arabs  and  accom- 


"          """  ^     *f'  V       — : — f*** — - 


BIRD'S-EYE-VIEW  OF  EGYPT,  SHOWING  THE  PLACES  WHERE 

20— M.I,.  COLONEL   ROOSEVELT   VISITED. 


305 


306  ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE   ROOSEVELT. 

panied  by  Chief  of  Police  Weigall,  Colonel  Roosevelt  cantered 
down  the  tortuous  narrow  desert  valley,  followed  closely  by  the 
carriages,  to  the  tombs  of  the  Kings,  3000  years  old.  The  day  was 
the  hottest  since  Colonel  Roosevelt  reached  civilization,  the  south 
west  wind  resembling  a  sirocco. 

When  the  inspection  of  the  tombs  was  completed,  Weigall, 
wishing  to  test  the  famous  endurance  of  the  ex-President,  suggested 
a  tramp  across  the  cliffs,  which  led  through  a  perilous  path  where 
the  heat  is  intensified  by  the  reflection  on  the  rocks,  expecting  that 
Mr.  Roosevelt  would  object. 

The  Colonel  not  only  kept  up,  but  led,  making  Mr.  Weigall 
admit  that  he  had  underestimated  the  strength  of  the  ex-President. 
On  returning,  four  men  of  the  party,  including  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
engaged  in  a  horse  race  for  a  mile  over  the  desert  in  the  hot  sun, 
Colonel  Roosevelt  winning  easily  by  the  grace  of  his  horse,  as  he 
laughingly  said.  Mr.  Weigall  and  Kermit  tied  for  second  place. 

THE  COLONEL'S  KNOWLEDGE  OF  ANCIENT  RULERS. 

"  He  astonished  me  by  his  knowledge  of  the  relations  of  the 
rulers  who  lived  several  thousand  years  ago,"  observed  Mr.  Weigall. 
In  connection  with  Hatesu  VIII,  Mr.  Roosevelt  recalled  that  she 
was  the  first  woman  ruler  of  civilized  history,  and  from  the  amount 
of  trouble  she  gave  Tomes,  one  of  her  numerous  husbands,  the 
Colonel  suggested  that  he  must  have  been  the  first  henpecked  hus 
band  of  whom  any  record  exists. 

In  their  tour  that  day  the  party  first  entered  Sethos,  the  first 
and  most  beautiful  of  the  Biban  El  Moluk  tombs.  The  caverns  in 
the  rocky  hills  reached  back  into  long  corridors  lighted  by  fitful 
candles  and  occasionally  by  electricity,  recalling  the  descent  into 
mines. 

At  the  tomb  of  Jenophis  the  party  was  led  through  the  dark 
ness  by  a  railing.  Suddenly  the  light  was  turned  on  and  they 
looked  at  a  crypt  containing  a  mummy-shaped  coffin  writh  the  black 
ened  remains  of  the  King,  his  arms  folded,  which  reminded  the 
party  of  the  tomb  of  Napoleon.  This  is  the  most  dramatic  sight 
in  connection  with  the  antique  monuments  of  Egypt. 


ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.         807 

On  the  way  from  Luxor  to  Karnok  Colonel  Roosevelt  halted 
at  the  American  Mission,  where  he  delivered  a  brief  address. 
Later  in  the  day  he  visited  the  German  Consulate,  and  there  was 
shown  a  book  bearing  the  signature  of  his  father  and  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  which  were  written  in  1873. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  finished  his  sight-seeing  by  inspecting  the 
Luxor  Temple.  The  party  left  at  7  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  23, 
and  reached  Cairo  the  following  morning. 

The  Egyptian  capital  gave  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  the 
most  enthusiastic  reception  accorded  to  a  foreigner  in  fifty  years. 
This  historic  old  city  turned  out  en  masse  to  greet  the  former 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  official  Cairo  vied  with  the  re 
mainder  of  the  population  in  heaping  honors  upon  the  mighty 
hunter,  whose  exploits  had  been  followed  with  the  most  intense 
interest. 

THE  COLONEL  RECEIVES  A  POPULAR  OVATION. 

It  was  Roosevelt  Day,  and  everybody  was  out  to  acclaim  the 
famous  American.  The  Khedive  greeted  him  cordially,  the  crowds 
massed  along  the  streets  cheered  his  carriage  and  the  Americans 
shouted  themselves  hoarse  at  Shepheard's  Hotel.  Prom  early 
morning  until  far  into  the  night  the  ovation  lasted.  Colonel  Roose 
velt's  name  was  on  every  tongue,  and  his  appearance  at  any  point 
was  the  signal  for  a  tremendous  demonstration.  The  city  made  a 
holiday  of  the  occasion. 

The  Colonel  was  met  by  Lewis  M.  Iddings,  the  American  consul 
general ;  Air.  Strauss,  the  American  ambassador  to  Turkey,  and  the 
leading  government  officials. 

He  took  lunch  at  the  American  agency,  and  was  afterward 
received  at  Abdin  palace  by  the  Khedive,  who  warmly  welcomed 
him,  and  listened  intently  and  interestedly  to  the  Colonel's  account 
of  his  shooting  expedition,  the  story  of  the  country  he  had  traversed 
and  the  various  classes  of  natives  he  had  met  in  the  course  of  his 
journey. 

The  Khedive  sent  a  palace  carriage  to  Shepheard's  Hotel  to 
convey  the  visitors  to  the  palace.  It  was  the  first  time  this  atten- 


308  ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

tion  had  been  accorded  to  a  private  citizen  of  any  country.  More 
over,  the  Khedive  returned  Roosevelt's  visit  in  royal  fashion. 

The  Khediviah  also  received  Mrs.  and  Miss  Roosevelt  with 
unusual  marks  of  distinction.  She  walked  through  two  or  three 
rooms  to  meet  them,  instead  of  waiting  for  them  in  the  reception 
room.  She  had  coffee  served  to  them  in  gold  cups,  studded  with 
diamonds.  She  talked  with  them  in  French  for  nearly  an  hour, 
asking  many  questions  about  the  position  of  women. 

Later  in  the  day  the  party  drove  to  the  Mena  House  for  the 
purpose  of  viewing  the  impressive  spectacle  of  the  pyramids  by 
moonlight.  Extensive  festivities  had  been  arranged  there  in  their 
honor,  lasting  well  into  the  night. 

Up  with  the  sun,  after  a  restful  night,  Colonel  Roosevelt  and 
his  party  were  early  astir,  preparing  for  a  visit  to  the  Necropolis  of 
Sakkara,  where  are  the  wonderful  tombs  of  various  kings,  of  Thy 
and  of  the  Apis  bulls. 

RECEIVES  SPECIAL  RECOGNITION. 

Major  F.  K.  Watson,  pacha,  aide  de  camp  to  the  Khedive,  was 
an  early  caller.  He  tendered  to  Colonel  Roosevelt  the  use  of  the 
Khedive's  special  camel  corps  for  the  eight-mile  ride  across  the 
desert  to  Sakkara.  Such  a  tender  always  is  a  special  mark  of 
favor,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt  accepted  it  with  much  pleasure.  The 
Colonel  and  Kermit  each  rode  one  of  the  animals  over  the  dreary 
waste  to  the  Necropolis,  but  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  Miss  Ethel  chose 
a  more  comfortable  sand  cart. 

Arriving  at  the  tombs  of  the  bulls  of  Apis,  the  oldest  of  which 
dates  back  to  1500  B.  C.,  the  time  of  the  reign  of  Amennophis  III, 
the  sightseers  were  met  by  an  archeologist  who  had  been  instructed 
to  act  as  their  guide.  With  lighted  candles,  the  Americans  entered 
the  dark  caverns,  and  looked  with  interest  upon  the  huge  sarcophagi. 

From  the  tombs  of  Bulls  the  party  proceeded  to  the  temples 
and  the  tomb  of  Thy,  a  plebeian,  who  lived  in  the  fifth  dynasty,  but 
who  was  so  esteemed  that  he  was  permitted  to  marry  a  princess. 

"  Not  a  lion  did  his  duty."  With  this  declaration,  delivered 
in  mock  gravity,  former  President  Roosevelt  concluded  his  informal 


ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.         309 

remarks  at  a  reception  given  the  following  morning  to  fellow-citi 
zens  from  America.  The  joke  on  those  who  openly  wished  that 
the  lions  would  get  him  was  not  lost  and  caused  a  hearty  laugh,  in 
which  the  speaker  joined. 

The  reception  was  held  in  the  beautiful  gardens  adjoining  the 
Shepheard's  Hotel,  and  as  early  as  8  o'clock  a  crowd  was  there. 
A  temporary  platform  had  been  erected,  decorated  with  American 
flags  and  palms.  When  Mr.  Roosevelt  appeared  he  received  a 
noisy  ovation.  The  cheers  were  followed  by  the  singing  of  "  My 
Country,  'Tis  of  Thee." 

The  Colonel  said  that  he  would  not  make  a  speech,  but  wished 
to  say  that  he  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  meet  fellow-country 
men.  He  was  glad,  he  said,  to  see  America  in  the  East.  Then  he 
assured  them  that  the  lions  in  Africa  had  not  accomplished  trie 
mission  jokingly  imposed  upon  them. 

THE  COLONEL  EXTENDS  A  PERSONAL  GREETING. 

A  line  was  formed,  and  passing  the  platform  every  one  of  the 
crowd,  in  which  women  predominated,  shook  hands  with  Colonel 
Roosevelt  and  received  a  personal  greeting.  This  over,  another 
cheer  was  given  and  once  more  "  My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,"  was 
sung.  Following  the  reception  the  Colonel  went  to  his  apartments 
and  prepared  for  the  visit  to  Al-Azhar  University. 

In  his  visit  to  the  mosque,  Al-Azhar,  which  in  988  was  turned 
into  a  university,  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  accompanied  by  Mrs. 
Roosevelt,  Kermit,  Miss  Ethel  and  a  few  others.  A  number  of 
American  tourists  seized  the  opportunity  to  inspect  the  mosque 
when  the  invited  party  was  received. 

At  the  "  gate  of  the  barbers  "  the  visitors  were  detained  until 
commodious  yellow-covered  shoes  could  be  tied  over  their  boots,  as 
the  feet  of  infidels  are  not  permitted  to  desecrate  the  Mohammedan 
floors.  A  thorough  inspection  of  the  mosque  was  made,  the  Colonel 
being  especially  interested  in  the  ancient  carvings,  the  Koreans 
which  had  been  the  personal  property  of  past  Khedives  and  other 
celebrities,  and  the  wealth  of  curious  objects  in  the  museum. 

The  Roosevelts  and  Ambassador  and  Mrs.  Strauss  were  guests 


310  ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

of  the  Khedive  at  luncheon  at  the  palace.  In  the  afternoon  they 
visited  the  museum  of  Arab  art. 

Easter  was  observed  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  much  the  same 
way  as  though  he  had  been  at  home.  In  conventional  silk  hat  and 
frock  coat,  he  attended  the  Easter  services  at  the  English  Church, 
which  was  crowded  to  the  doors  with  worshipers. 

Probably  the  most  interesting  incident  in  connection  with 
Colonel  Roosevelt's  visit  occurred  when,  at  his  own  suggestion,  he 
held  an  informal  conference  with  Egyptian  newspaper  men. 

The  ex-President  had  been  keenly  interested  in  the  attack  by 
the  native  press  on  his  speeches,  they  charging  that  he  has  inter 
fered  in  Egyptian  politics,  and  said  that  he  would  like  to  have  a 
heart-to-heart  talk  with  the  editors.  As  a  result  the  newspaper 
men  visited  him  during  the  day,  all  of  them  displaying  great  eager 
ness  for  the  interview.  Most  of  them  wore  European  frock  coats 
and  tarbushes,  but  one  tall,  dignified  Arab  sheikh  appeared  in  flow 
ing  robes  and  turban. 

THE  COLONEL  ADDRESSES  THE  ASSEMBLAGE. 

After  the  introductions  the  Colonel  addressed  the  assemblage. 
Some  of  them  could  speak  only  Arabic,  and  hence  an  interpreter 
was  necessary.  The  Colonel  said  something  about  it  being  the  duty 
of  journalists  to  promote  religious  toleration,  whereupon  the  sheikh 
eagerly  interjected  in  gutteral  Arabic :  "  Moslems  and  Christians 
have  lived  peaceably  side  by  side  in  Egypt  for  thirteen  centuries. 
There  is  no  reason  why  they  cannot  continue  to  do  so." 

If  he  anticipated  that  this  would  lead  to  an  argument,  he  was 
disappointed,  for  Colonel  Roosevelt  only  rapped  out  with  appre 
ciative  vigor :  "  That's  fine ;  that's  fine,"  and  went  on  with  his  homily 
on  the  power  and  responsibility  of  the  press.  Describing  it  as  the 
most  formidable  weapon  of  modern  life,  he  declared  it  ought  only 
to  be  used  for  good  purposes. 

To  this  the  sheikh,  among  others,  heartily  assented.  The 
interview  ended  without  any  controversy,  and  with  mutual  compli 
ments  and  a  general  display  of  good  feeling.  Asked  afterward 
what  were  their  impressions  of  the  meeting,  it  became  clear  that 


ROYAL  HONORS  FOR  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT.         311 

what  struck  the  editors  most  was  the  freedom  with  which  Colonel 
Roosevelt  talked  with  them,  and  the  pleasure  he  seemed  to  feel  at 
meeting  them. 

It  was  such  an  unexpected  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  man  who 
had  been  the  head  of  a  great  nation  that  one  of  the  newspaper  men 
declared  that  his  heart  was  so  full  of  admiration  and  gratitude  that 
he  could  hardly  restrain  his  tears.  Another,  who  is  an  ardent 
Nationalist,  said :  "  Mr.  Roosevelt  didn't  know  what  he  was  talking 
about,  but  he  meant  well." 

During  a  conversation  between  an  educated  Egyptian  and  a 
correspondent  the  Egyptian  declared  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  learned 
more  about  the  Assiut  American  Mission  in  two  days  than  Lord 
Cromer  had  learned  in  twenty-five  years.  This  is  typical  of  the 
impressions  the  Egyptians  have  formed  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's 
wonderful  power  in  absorbing  the  details  of  all  subjects. 

Later  the  Roosevelt  family  gave  a  small  private  luncheon  and 
at  night  the  Colonel  attended  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor  by  the 
Sirdar,  Sir  Reginald  Wingate. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  delivered  an  address  before  the  students  of 
the  University  of  Egypt  on  March  28,  and  made  an  excellent  impres 
sion.  He  was  cordially  received,  and  at  the  end  of  his  remarks  there 
was  much  applause.  The  general  opinion  was  that  the  speech  will 
have  a  good  effect  upon  the  country  generally. 

Earlier  in  the  day  Colonel  Roosevelt  received  a  deputation  of 
prominent  Syrians,  who  wished  to  acknowledge  the  kindly  attitude 
toward  their  people  of  the  former  President  during  his  administra 
tion,  and  a  committee  of  the  Geographical  Society  which  received 
Livingstone  and  Stanley,  and  wished  to  pay  their  respects  in  a 
similar  manner  to  the  American. 

The  Syrians  presented  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  an  illuminated  address 
on  silk,  written  in  both  Arabic  and  English.  The  address  was  en 
closed  in  a  solid  silver  casket,  inlaid  with  gold  and  bearing  an  in 
scription  in  Arabic.  On  the  outside  of  the  cover,  inlaid  with  gold, 
was  formed  an  olive  branch  entwined  with  Turkish  and  American 
flags. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 
TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH  EUROPE. 

ROOSEVELT  SAILS  FOR  NAPLES — GETS  OVATION — VISITED  BY  KING 
VICTOR  EMMANUEL — "  LONG  LIVE  ROOSEVELT  "  -VISITS 
SCENE  OF  HONEYMOON  IN  UNIQUE  EQUIPAGE — PORTO 
MAURIZIO  IN  GALA  ARRAY — ADMIRES  VENICE  EROM  GONDOLA 
— EMPEROR  FRANZ  JOSEPH  PAYS  HONOR  TO  THE  COLONEL — 
JOURNEY  TO  BUDAPEST — MEETS  FRANCIS  KOSSUTH — GREETED 
LIKE  A  RULER  IN  PARIS. 

T  IMMEDIATELY  on  retiring  from  the  Presidency  Colonel  Roose- 
*•  velt  hurried  to  Africa,  far  away  from  the  strenuous  political 
life  of  the  preceding  years,  living  in  the  wild,  indifferent  to  the 
world's  thought  and  interest.  Not  a  few  were  glad  to  have  him 
thus  go,  for  they  thought  he  had  gone  beyond  the  horizon  of  poli 
tical  life  and  if  he  ever  returned  it  would  be  without  a  place  to 
receive  him.  But  such  a  welcome  has  never  been  given  any  man. 

At  the  border  of  civilization  the  welcome  began,  and  at  every 
step  it  increased  in  volume  and  heartiness.  Missions,  civil  organi 
zations,  rulers  and  public  officials  gave  him  cordial  greeting.  Courts 
were  opened  to  him,  and  Kings  made  him  their  personal  guest.  No 
other  man  has  undertaken  such  a  journey ;  no  American  has  been  so 
honored. 

General  Grant  was  welcomed  as  he  went  around  the  world  to 
a  degree  that  made  us  wonder  and  excited  our  pride,  but  it  was 
Grant,  the  great  general  as  well  as  ex-President.  He  received  the 
honors  with  becoming  dignity,  but  he  was  a  silent  man,  and  no 
special  and  abiding  impression  was  made  on  the  world  by  him. 

Roosevelt  carries  with  him  his  characteristic  intense  energy, 
and  speaks  with  the  independence  and  force  which  made  him  the 
most  popular  and  personally  the  most  potent  President  we  have 
ever  had.  He  seemed  to  throw  prudence  aside  when  he  began  his 

312 


TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH   EUROPE.  313 

speeches  in  Egypt.  He  knew  there  was  a  sullen  discontent,  stimu 
lated  by  ambitious  and  disloyal  men,  but  this  was  to  him  a  call. 

It  seemed  as  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  throwing  brands  into  an 
open  magazine,  but  he  spoke  fearlessly  and  with  such  positiveness 
that  disloyalty  was  put  to  shame.  His  course  was  proved  to  be 
wise  for  him  and  for  the  public  good;  he  was  a  master  and  by  the 
force  of  his  personality  brought  rulers  and  the  ruled  into  better 
relations. 

At  every  point  the  highest  honors  were  extended  to  him,  and 
in  every  case  he  proved  himself  the  plain,  straightforward  man  of 
high  ideals  and  strong  convictions. 

THE  COLONEL  SAILS  FOR  NAPLES. 

The  Roosevelts  left  Alexandria  and  sailed  for  Naples  in  the 
afternoon  of  March  30,  on  board  the  steamer  Prinz  Heinrich. 

Never  was  the  blue  bay  of  Naples  bathed  in  more  glorious  sun 
shine  than  when  the  black  smoke  of  the  incoming  steamer  notified 
the  crowd  of  the  arrival  of  the  distinguished  visitor. 

Notwithstanding  the  early  hour,  the  water  front  was  lined 
with  thousands  who  wished  to  share  in  the  welcome  to  Colonel 
Roosevelt  upon  his  return  to  Italy  from  Africa. 

At  his  hotel  Mr.  Roosevelt  found  awaiting  him  a  messenger 
from  Mayor  Nathan  of  Rome,  bearing  an  invitation  from  the 
municipal  authorities,  who  wished  to  give  a  dinner  in  his  honor. 
The  former  President  promptly  accepted  the  invitation  and  fixed  the 
date  for  the  following  Wednesday  evening. 

Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  attended  services  at  Christ  Church 
in  Naples  the  next  morning,  leaving  for  Rome  at  2.30  in  the  after 
noon.  An  immense  crowd  assembled  at  the  station  to  see  them  off. 
The  private  car,  which  had  been  placed  at  their  disposal  by  the 
Italian  government,  was  filled  with  flowers. 

Although  measures  had  been  taken  by  the  police  to  prevent  a 
large  gathering  inside  the  railroad  station  at  the  time  of  the^arrival 
of  the  Roosevelt  party,  many  Americans  and  prominent  Italians 
managed  to  find  a  way  to  circumvent  these  precautions,  and  the 


314  TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH   EUROPE. 

station  was  well  filled  when  the  ex-President  appeared  at  the  door 
of  the  car. 

A  detachment  of  carabineers  and  a  large  force  of  police  made 
a  pathway  from  the  train  to  the  royal  waiting  room,  the  king  having 
ordered  that  the  ex-President  should  receive  the  same  honors  as 
members  of  the  royal  families  when  they  visit  the  Italian  capital. 

The  Colonel  was  received  on  his  arrival  at  the  Quirinal  in  the 
most  cordial  manner  by  King  Victor  Emmanuel.  This  occasion, 
the  most  important  set  event  since  Colonel  Roosevelt's  landing  in 
Europe  from  his  African  hunt,  afforded  opportunity  for  another 
exhibition  of  the  admiration  of  the  Italian  public  for  the  noted 
American  visitor  and  the  popular  interest  in  his  every  movement. 

The  distinguished  guest  was  escorted  to  the  door  of  the  King's 
apartment,  which  when  thrown  open  revealed  His  Majesty  standing 
with  arms  outstretched  and  with  a  smile  upon  his  face. 

COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  AND  KING  VICTOR. 

The  monarch  and  former  President  shook  hands  heartily,  the 
King  inviting  his  guest  to  sit  at  his  side.  The  door  of  the  apart 
ment  was  then  closed  and  the  two  remained  in  private  conversation 
for  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 

The  Colonel,  it  is  said,  expressed  the  pleasure  that  he  felt  in 
again  meeting  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  following  the  short  inter 
view  which  they  had  a  year  ago  at  Messina  on  board  the  battleship 
Re  Umberto. 

The  King  responded  that  he  had  been  waiting  with  great  in 
terest  the  return  of  the  former  President,  as  he  had  desired  to  hear 
from  his  own  lips  the  report  of  his  African  adventures,  which  his 
Majesty  had  followed  as  closely  as  possible. 

Following  the  audience  Colonel  Roosevelt  said  that  the  King 
had  been  so  gracious  and  flattering  both  to  him  personally  and  to 
his  country  that  he  felt  that  he  should  not  make  public  anything 
concerning  their  conversation. 

The  formalities  of  the  reception  over,  Victor  Emmanuel  per 
sonally  conducted  his  guest  to  the  hall  of  the  palace,  where  the 


TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH    EUROPE.  315 

American  inspected  the  hunting  trophies  of  the  King's  father  and 
grandfather. 

When  the  time  came  to  say  good-bye  His  Majesty  invited  the 
Colonel  to  drive  with  him  the  next  morning.  The  sovereign  ex 
plained  that,  though  they  would  dine  together  at  court  that  night, 
he  desired  to  see  and  talk  with  his  guest  further  alone. 

From  the  Quirinal  the  returning  traveler  drove  to  the  Pan 
theon.  Beyond  the  charm  of  its  ancient  memories,  this  spot  is 
sacred  as  it  contains  the  tombs  of  Raphael,  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
II.,  the  "  father  of  his  country,"  and  King  Humbert. 

King  Victor  Emmanuel  called  on  Colonel  Roosevelt  at  the 
latter  s  hotel  the  next  morning,  and,  following  a  pleasant  social  chat, 
they  motored  to  the  barracks  of  the  Cuirassiers,  where  they  wit 
nessed  a  series  of  manoeuvres.  The  ex-President  said  he  had 
never  seen  a  finer  body  of  mounted  men. 

THE  COLONEL  VISITS  VICTOR  EMMANUEL'S  MONUMENT. 

From  the  barracks  the  King  and  his  guest  motored  to  the  monu 
ment,  in  course  of  construction,  to  Victor  Emmanuel  II.  Leaving 
the  car  the  two  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  collossal  structure  upon 
which  $10,000,000  has  been  expended  thus  far. 

In  the  afternoon,  in  company  with  Professor  James  B.  Carter, 
director  of  the  American  School  of  Classical  Studies  at  Rome,  the 
ex-President  spent  considerable  time  exploring  the  Capitol  Forum. 

Signer  Ferra,  sovereign  grand  commander  of  the  Supreme 
Council,  Ancient  Scottish  Rite,  with  a  deputation,  called  at  Roose 
velt's  apartments  and  conferred  upon  him  a  high  Masonic  title. 
The  Colonel  delivered  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he  expressed  grati 
fication  at  the  honor,  and  insisted  upon  the  principles  of  brother 
hood,  liberty  and  tolerance,  which,  he  said,  form  the  basis  of  regular 
Free  Masonry  throughout  the  world. 

Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  left  for  Spezia  late  on  the  night  of 
April  6  to  follow  the  route  taken  upon  their  wedding  trip. 

Among  those  who  bade  farewell  at 'the  station  were  Count 
Tozzoni,  master  of  ceremonies  in  the  royal  household,  who  repre- 


316  TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH    EUROPE. 

sented  the  king;  Mayor  Nathan  and  other  civic  authorities.  The 
distinguished  American  was  warmly  cheered,  and  there  were  many 
cries  of  "  Long  live  Roosevelt." 

At  8.31  the  next  morning  Colonel  Roosevelt,  clad  in  a  Rough 
Rider  overcoat  of  khaki,  with  the  insignia  of  a  colonel,  alighted 
from  a  saloon  car  at  the  Spezia  station,  accompanied  by  his  wife. 

The  Mayor  and  sub-prefect  who  had  been  awaiting  his  coming, 
greeted  him,  and  the  Colonel  accepted  the  Mayor's  carriage  in 
which  to  drive  to  the  Hotel  Croce  di  Malt,  while  a  special,  old- 
fashioned  three-horse  carriage,  a  replica  of  that  used  by  the  Roose- 
velts  twenty-five  years  ago  on  their  honeymoon,  which  had  been 
made  ready  for  their  second  honeymoon,  conveyed  their  luggage. 
The  old-fashioned  vehicle,  with  mussel  bells  on  the  horses'  harness, 
afforded  a  new  sight  for  Spezia  and  attracted  much  attention,  mak 
ing  it  impossible  for  the  Colonel  to  preserve  his  incognito. 

THE  COLONEL  RENEWS  OLD  ASSOCIATIONS. 

After  breakfast  in  the  public  dining  room  of  the  hotel  and  a 
visit  to  the  room  occupied  by  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  Colonel  Roosevelt  shook  hands  with  all  the  Ameri 
cans  present  and  accepted  a  bouquet  for  Mrs.  Roosevelt. 

Then  they  drove  away  in  a  cloud  of  dust  raised  by  their  ancient 
equipage,  while  the  postilion  cracked  his  whip  and  the  bells  jangled 
merrily,  awakening  to  unusual  animation  the  sleepy  town. 

People  and  press  of  Genoa  had  manifested  the  most  intense 
interest  in  the  movements  of  Colonel  Roosevelt.  His  second  honey 
moon  journey  stirred  their  romantic  natures,  and  when  the  news 
spread  of  his  coming,  a  big  crowd  hurried  to  the  modest  Hotel 
Brittania,  where  he  had  engaged  quarters,  and  with  cheering  and 
the  waving  of  hats  greeted  the  arival  of  the  dust-covered  carriage. 

Half  an  hour  after  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Roosevelt,  the  prefect 
and  the  Mayor  of  Genoa  called  on  him  and  greeted  him  in  the  name 
of  the  municipality. 

The  Colonel  visited  the  Red  and  White  palaces  of  Genoa,  subse 
quently  going  driving  and  visiting  the  famous  Andrea  Dona 
Church,  whose  solemn  beauty  deeply  impressed  him. 


TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH   EUROPE.  317 

The  departure  of  the  Roosevelts  caused  a  great  outpouring  of 
the  Genoese,  including  the  municipal  authorities,  who  cordially 
wished  him  bon  voyage.  At  every  station  on  the  road  to  Porto 
Maurizio  crowds  stood  in  the  pouring  rain  and  saluted  the  Colonel. 

Porto  Maurizio  in  gala  dress  welcomed  the  ex-President  en 
thusiastically.  Mayor  Carnetti,  with  a  delegation,  formally  greeted 
him.  Signora  Carnetti  and  several  other  women  greeted  Mrs.  and 
Miss  Roosevelt. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  arrived,  not  only  was  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  town  massed  about  the  station  or  lining  the 
streets,  but  thousands  from  the  neighboring  communes  had  come 
in  to  add  their  enthusiasm  to  that  of  the  townspeople,  which  already 
was  difficult  to  hold  in  check.  The  din  of  the  welcome  was  almost 
indescribable  as  the  ex-President  and  his  wife  emerged  from  the 
station.  After  greeting  Miss  Carew,  Mrs.  Roosevelt's  sister,  the 
party  started  forward  for  the  carriages.  A  band  struck  up  "  Hail 
Columbia,"  and  the  crowd  cheered  lustily. 

HE  OPENS  A  BOULEVARD  NAMED  IN  HIS  HONOR. 

The  following  day  the  Colonel  opened  the  new  boulevard, 
which  had  been  named  for  him,  and  accepted  honorary  citizenship  of 
the  city  of  Porto  Maurizio,  amid  a  repetition  of  the  popular  enthu 
siasm  which  marked  his  arrival. 

While  a  band  played  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  and  most 
of  the  population  of  Porto  Maurizio  shouted  "  Long  live  Roose 
velt!"  the  former  President  and  his  son  left  Porto  Maurizio  on 
April  1 3th  for  Venice. 

The  Colonel  and  Kermit  spent  several  hours  in  Venice  the  fol 
lowing  day,  leaving  about  2.30  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  for  Vienna. 
'Iliey  enjoyed  trips  in  gondolas  on  the  canals  in  the  city  and  in 
spected  many  of  the  notable  structures  and  points  of  interest. 

Vienna  gave  Col.  Roosevelt  a  warm  welcome.  Wherever  lie 
went  a  crowd  gathered  to  see  him,  while  there  was  constantly  a 
crowd  outside  his  hotel. 


318  TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH  EUROPE. 

As  a  special  mark  of  his  personal  esteem  the  aged  Emperor — 
King  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria  received  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  his 
private  apartments  at  the  imposing  Hof  burg  Palace  instead  of  in 
the  regular  audience  chamber. 

The  monarch,  who  was  attired  in  an  imperial  uniform,  was 
extremely  gracious  to  the  ex-President,  and  kept  him  in  conversa 
tion  for  thirty- five  minutes. 

For  Colonel  Roosevelt  the  call  on  the  Emperor  was  only  the 
main  feature  of  a  very  busy  day,  which  began  immediately  after  he 
reached  his  hotel  early  that  morning  with  a  breakfast  with  Henry 
White,  former  American  ambassador  to  France. 

THE  COLONEL  OCCUPIES  THE  COURT  CARRIAGE. 

The  day  included  an  official  visit  to  Count  von  Aehrenthal,  the 
Austro-Hungarian  foreign  minister,  which  lasted  an  hour;  a  call 
of  courtesy  upon  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  the  heir  apparent 
to  the  throne,  at  Belvidere  palace ;  a  visit  to  the  tombs  of  the  Haps- 
burgs,  where,  under  the  guidance  of  a  brown-cowled  Capucine 
monk,  with  a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand,  he  laid  wreaths  on  the  tombs 
of  Empress  Elizabeth  and  Crown  Prince  Rudolph;  a  tour  of  in 
spection  of  the  Spanish  riding  school  founded  by  Charles  VII  and 
the  Imperial  Hussar  barracks;  a  reception  by  the  Austrian  jour 
nalists  and  a  gala  dinner  given  in  his  honor  at  the  Foreign  Office  at 
night  by  Count  von  Aehrenthal.  Yet.  after  the  long  day,  when 
Colonel  Roosevelt  returned  to  his  hotel,  he  mounted  the  stairs  two 
at  a  time. 

The  Colonel  used  the  imperial  court  carriage  placed  at  his 
disposal  by  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  until  his  official  calls  had  ended. 
Then  he  discarded  it  for  a  speedier  vehicle — the  automobile. 

The  Emperor's  dinner  at  the  Imperial  Palace  at  Schoenbrunn 
constituted  the  concluding  official  function  of  the  Colonel's  visit  to 
the  Austrian  capital. 

As  the  hour  of  the  dinner  was  set  for  6  o'clock,  the  Colonel  and 
Kermit,  in  evening  dress,  left  the  hotel  in  a  court  carriage  a  half 
hour  earlier.  Arriving  at  the  entrance  of  the  palace,  a  court  official 

met  and  escorted  them  up  the  broad  flight  of  stairs. 
H.B.G.— so 


TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH  EUROPE.  319 

As  the  ex-President  and  his  son  reached  the  threshold,  the 
doors  opposite  were  thrown  open  and  the  Emperor,  wearing  the 
uniform  of  a  field  marshal,  advanced  to  meet  the  guest  of  the 
evening. 

After  greetings,  the  Colonel  presented  Kermit,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  Emperor,  with  the  ex- President  on  his  left,  led  the  way 
through  several  spacious  apartments  to  what  is  called  the  "  small 
gallery  ". — a  white  apartment  where  small  court  dinners  usually  are 
given.  Thirty-five  additional  guests  sat  down  to  the  table. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Americans  all  the  guests  were  in  full 
court  uniform.  Colonel  Roosevelt  sat  at  the  Emperor's  right  and 
Ambassador  Kerens  at  his  left.  Throughout  the  dinner  the 
band  of  the  32d  Infantry  played  in  a  gallery,  principally  selections 
from  Strauss.  The  table  service  was  of  silver  and  white  and  gold 
china,  with  the  imperial  eagle  in  gold  on  the  borders. 

BANQUET  FORMALITIES  DISPENSED  WITH. 

Still  following  the  ceremonial  of  private  dinners,  as  distin 
guished  from  gala  and  state  banquets,  no  formal  toasts  were  given. 
The  dinner  occupied  precisely  one  hour,  and  upon  arising  from  the 
table  the  party  returned  to  the  Mirror  Room,  where  what  is  known 
as  the  "  Cercle  "  followed,  during  which  the  Emperor  personally 
made  the  round  of  his  guests.  His  leave-taking  of  the  former 
President  and  his  son  was  exceedingly  cordial. 

From  the  palace  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  Kermit  drove  direct  to 
the  Imperial  Opera,  where  they  occupied  the  court  box  for  a  short 
time,  during  the  second  act  of  the  "  Barber  of  Seville."  The  house 
was  crowded  in  anticipation  of  the  Colonel's  presence,  and  he  was 
given  a  hearty  reception. 

They  drove  from  the  opera  to  the  American  Embassy,  where 
an  informal  reception  to  the  American  colony  had  been  arranged, 
so  that  they  might  meet  the  ex-President.  Mr.  Roosevelt  left  for 
Budapest  the  following  morning,  a  special  car  having  been  placed  at 
his  service. 

The  train  for  Budapest  arrived  at  9  o'clock  in  the  evening. 


320  TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH  EUROPE. 

Rain  was  falling,  but,  in  response  to  the  Mayor's  appeal,  the  towns 
folk  turned  out  by  the  thousands.  Within  the  station  itself  the 
crowd  swarmed  everywhere,  and  as  the  train  came  in  the  officials 
could  hardly  clear  the  track.  Scores  of  men  and  boys  climbed  on 
to  the  roofs  of  the  cars.  A  fervent  welcome  was  extended  by  the 
Mayor,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt,  wearing  a  cavalry  colonel's  coat  and 
a  black  felt  hat,  made  an  eloquent  reply. 

The  most  notable  event  in  the  program  was  the  visit  to  the 
House  of  Parliament.  The  legislative  body,  having  been  dissolved, 
was  not  in  session,  but  the  Interparliamentary  Peace  Congress  was, 
and  the  two  Premiers  of  the  dual  empire  were  there  to  receive  the 
former  President. 

THE  COLONEL  VISITS  THE  HOME  OF   KOSSUTH. 

From  the  parliamentary  buildings,  Colonel  Roosevelt  went  to 
the  home  of  Kossuth.  The  Hungarian  patriot  received  the  Ameri 
can  visitor  cordially  and  the  conversation  turned  almost  immediately 
upon  the  progress  which  had  been  made  by  Hungary  since  1848. 
Kossuth  showed  his  visitor  pictures  and  busts  of  his  illustrious 
father,  as  well  as  various  mementoes  which  are  preserved  with  re 
verence  by  the  family  of  the  greatest  of  all  Hungary's  famous  men. 
The  Colonel  and  Kermit  left  Budapest  on  the  night  of  April  19 
for  Paris. 

No  reigning  sovereign  ever  received  a  more  enthusiastic  wel 
come  to  Paris  than  did  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  reached  Paris  on 
April  21,  and  was  greeted  by  the  representatives  of  the  President 
of  the  Republic  and  the  Cabinet,  American  Ambassador  Bacon,  M. 
Jusserand,  the  French  Ambassador  at  Washington,  and  a  great 
concourse  of  people,  which  the  cordon  of  troops  surrounding  the 
railway  station  had  difficulty  in  holding  in  check. 

After  luncheon  at  the  American  embassy,  the  Colonel  called 
upon  President  Fallieres  and  Foreign  Minister  Pichon,  who  imme 
diately  afterward  paid  return  visits  to  the  embassy. 

Part  of  the  afternoon  was  devoted  to  private  engagements, 
and  in  the  evening  the  ex-President  was  given  an  ovation  at  the 


TRIUMPHAL  TOURNEY  THROUGH   EUROPE.  321 

Comedie  Francaise,  where  he  made  his  first  real  public  utterance  in 
Paris,  occupying  the  presidential  box,  which  had  been  placed  at  his 
disposal  by  M.  Fallieres. 

When  Colonel  Roosevelt  entered  the  theater  between  acts,  the 
house  literally  rose  to  its  feet,  volleys  of  applause  bursting  from  the 
boxes,  pit  and  gallery.  For  a  full  minute  the  Colonel  made  no 
response,  but  as  the  demonstration  continued  he  came  forward  and 
bowed  his  acknowledgments. 

At  the  end  of  each  act,  when  Mounet- Sully,  who  played  the  title 
role,  and  the  other  performers  responded,  they  advanced,  as  is  cus 
tomary  when  royalty  is  present,  bowing  profoundly  in  the  direction 
of  the  ex-President  before  turning  to  the  audience.  This  seemed 
only  to  give  additional  pleasure  to  the  audience,  which,  in  turn,  each 
time  gave  a  fresh  round  of  applause  for  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

The  Colonel  began  his  programme  the  next  day  with  a  visit  io 
the  tomb  of  Napoleon  in  the  Palais  des  Invalides. 

THE  COLONEL  DINED  AT  THE  ELYSEE  PALACE. 

President  and  Mme.  Fallieres  gave  a  gala  dinner  that  night  of 
104  covers  at  the  Elysee  Palace  in  honor  of  the  Colonel.  The  entire 
palace  was  brilliantly  illuminated  and  the  Republican  Guard  lined 
the  stairways. 

In  proposing  Colonel  Roosevelt's  health  President  Fallieres 
said :  "  I  cannot  allow  this  dinner  to  terminate  without  seizing  the 
occasion  to  offer  a  toast  to  Theodore  Roosevelt — an  illustrious  man 
who  is  at  the  same  time  a  great  citizen,  a  great  friend  of  France  and 
a  great  friend  of  peace.  I  lift  my  glass  also  in  honor  of  Mrs. 
Roosevelt,  to  whom  goes  out  the  homage  of  our  respectful  sympathy. 
I  congratulate  myself  on  being  able  to  tell  our  guests  how  happy  we 
are  to  receive  and  fete  them." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  replied  in  French,  saying  he  was  profoundly 
touched  by  the  words  of  President  Fallieres. 

From  noon  until  midnight  on  the  third  day  of  his  arrival  Colonel 
Roosevelt  was  the  guest  of  intellectual  Paris,  participating  as  a 
member  at  a  session  of  the  French  Academy,  delivering  a  lecture  on 
"  Citizenship  in  a  Republic,"  at  the  Sorbonne. 


322  TRIUMPHAL   TOURNEY  THROUGH   EUROPE. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  reception  at  the  French  institute  and  that 
at  the  Sorbonne  were  equally  impressive,  but  in  a  different  way. 
At  the  former  he  was  introduced  merely  as  a  member  and  he  took  a 
seat  among  his  distinguished  confreres,  most  of  whom  have  grown 
old  in  the  service  of  science. 

After  listening  to  the  words  of  M.  Boutroux,  the  president  of 
the  Academy  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences,  who  spoke  eloquently 
of  American  ideals  and  character,  of  which  he  said,  Theodore  Roose 
velt  was  the  best  exponent,  the  former  President  of  the  United  States 
replied  in  French,  his  utterances  arousing  his  venerable  colleagues 
to  unwonted  applause. 

At  the  Sorbonne  no  attempt  was  made  to  restrain  the  demon 
strations.  The  facade  bristled  with  American  and  French  flags, 
and  fully  25,000  persons  packed  the  streets  and  acclaimed  Colonel 
Roosevelt  on  his  arrival.  Within  the  building  enthusiasm  was  un 
bounded,  the  vast  crowd  in  the  amphitheatre  interrupting  again  and 
again  with  storms  of  applause  as  the  speaker  defined  the  duties  of 
individual  citizenship  in  a  republic,  scorning  the  sluggards,  synics 
and  idle  rich,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  work,  character  and  the 
strenuous  life. 

HE  DEFINES  HIS  ATTITUDE  ON  HUMAN  RIGHTS. 

Several  times  he  interjected  observations  in  French,  and  after 
he  had  defined  his  attitude  on  the  subject  of  human  rights  and  pro 
perty  rights,  he  repeated  this  in  French,  saying  that  it  constituted 
the  crux  of  what  he  had  to  say,  and  he  desired  every  one  to  under 
stand  him. 

The  newspapers  of  all  shades  of  opinoin  rang  with  approval 
of  the  doctrines  of  civic  morality  expounded  by  the  ex-Presideiit. 

The  "  Temps  "  declared  that  the  impression  produced  was  all 
the  greater  because  Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  present  theories  that  he 
conceived,  but  experiences  that  he  lived.  It  found  many  lessons 
therein  for  France,  and  concluded  with  an  appeal  to  France  to  take 
"  the  advice  of  an  honest  man  whose  deeds  and  life  during  thirty 
years  qualify  him  to  speak." 


TRIUMPHAL  JOURNEY  THROUGH  EUROPE.  323 

The  "Journal  Debats"  said :  "  Roosevelt's  simple  and  energetic 
language  is  that  of  Hercules,  armed  not  with  a  club,  but  a  broom 
at  the  door  of  the  Augean  stable." 

"  Liberte,"  under  the  caption  of  "  A  Magnificent  Lesson," 
said :  "  We  have  few  men  in  France  with  energy  equal  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt's,  but  thousands  upon  thousands  who  think  as  he  does." 

The  <l  Paris  Journal "  said  :  "  No  nobler  lesson  of  civic  duty 
ever  fell  from  human  lips," 

Colonel  Roosevelt  passed  a  comparatively  quiet  Sunday  in  Paris. 
Accompanied  by  Ambassador  Bacon  in  the  morning,  he  attended 
service  in  the  American  church  in  the  Rue  de  Berri.  Mrs.  Roose 
velt,  accompanied  by  Kermit  and  Miss  Ethel,  attended  the  American 
church  in  Avenue  de  1'Alma. 

THE  COLONEL  AND  MRS.  ROOSEVELT  ATTEND]  A  LUNCHEON. 

The  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  lunched  with  Ambassador  and 
Mme.  Jusserand.  In  the  afternoon  there  was  an  automobile  trip 
to  St.  Germain,  where  Colonel  Roosevelt  visited  the  chateau  of 
Henry  IV.  In  the  evening  the  Roosevelts  dined  with  Ambassador 
and  Mrs..  Bacon  at  the  American  embassy. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  popularity  grew  amazingly  as  his  visit  to 
Paris  drew  towards  its  close.  His  reception  Monday  night  at  the 
Opera,  where  a  gala  performance  of  "  Samson  and  Delilah "  had 
been  arranged  in  his  honor,  was  a  remarkable  and  spontaneous 
tribute  of  a  brilliant  assembly  to  a  man  after  the  true  Parisian's 
heart. 

The  events  of  April  were  a  source  of  genuine  delight  to  the 
formei  President,  particularly  the  mimic  .warfare  on  the  field  of 
Vincennes.  The  booming  of  cannon,  the  rattling  of  mitralleuses, 
and  the  prancing  of  gallant  steeds — particularly  the  one  he  him 
self  rode — appeared  to  fill  his  soul  with  delight.  "  There  was  one 
thing  I  absolutely  had  to  see  here,"  said  the  Colonel,  "before  I 
went  to  Germany,  and  that  was  the  French  army." 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  visit  in  Paris  during  which  he  was 
showered  with  honors,  terminated  the  following  day. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  SPEECH  IN  PARIS  ON  CITIZEN 
SHIP  IN  A  REPUBLIC. 


ROOSEVELT  on  April  23  electrified  France  with 
one  of  the  most  forceful  speeches  he  has  ever  spoken. 

What  Mr.  Roosevelt  said  was  interrupted  again  and  again  with 
outbursts  of  applause.  His  speech  was  given  over  to  defining  the 
duties  of  individual  citzenship  in  a  republic.  He  scorned  the 
sluggards,  the  cynics  and  the  idle  rich. 

He  preached  the  gospel  of  work,  of  character  and  of  the  strenu 
ous  life.  He  defined  his  attitude  on  the  subject  of  human  rights 
and  made  clear  his  position  in  respect  to  the  moneyed  interests. 
He  commended  the  qualities  of  courage,  honesty,  sincerity  and 
common  sense  and  said  these  qualities  rather  than  genius  were 
essential.  He  made  clear  his  belief  that  republican  institutions 
are  still  on  trial,  both  in  France  and  America. 

His   address  delivered  in  the  Sorbonne,  Paris,  is  as  follows  : 

"  Strange  and  impressive  associations  rise  in  the  mind  of  a  man  from  the 
New  World  who  speaks  before  this  august  body  in  this  ancient  institution  of 
learning.  Before  his  eyes  pass  the  shadows  of  mighty  kings  and  warlike 
nobles,  of  great  masters  of  law  and  theology;  through  the  shining  dust  of  the 
dead  centuries  he  sees  crowded  figures  that  tell  of  the  power  and  learning  and 
splendor  of  times  gone  by;  and  he  sees  also  the  innumerable  host  of  humble 
students  to  whom  clerkship  meant  emancipation,  to  whom  it  was  well-nigh  the 
only  outlet  from  the  dark  thraldom  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

"  This  was  the  most  famous  university  of  mediaeval  Europe  at  a  time 
when  no  one  dreamed  that  there  was  a  New  World  to  discover.  Its  services 
to  the  cause  of  human  knowledge  already  stretched  far  back  into  the  remote 
past  at  the  time  when  my  forefathers,  three  centuries  ago,  were  among  the 
sparse  bands  of  traders,  plowmen,  woodchoppers  and  fisherfolk  who,  in  hard 
struggle  with  the  iron  unfriendliness  of  the  Indian-haunted  land,  were  laying 
the  foundations  of  what  has  now  become  the  giant  republic  of  the  West. 

"  The  pioneer  days  pass  ;  the  stump-dotted  clearings  expand  into  vast 
stretches  of  fertile  farm  land  ;  the  stockaded  clusters  of  log  cabins  change  into 
towns;  the  hunters  of  game,  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  men  who  wander  all 
their  lives  long  through  the  wilderness  as  the  heralds  and  harbingers  of  an 
oncoming  civilization,  themselves  vanish  before  the  civilization  for  which  they 
have  prepared  the  way. 

324 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  PARIS  SPEECH.  325 

"  The  children  of  their  successors  and  supplanters,  and  then  their  children 
and  children's  children,  change  and  develop  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  The 
conditions  accentuate  vices  and  virtues,  energy  and  ruthlessness,  all  the  good 
qualities  and  all  the  defects  of  an  intense  individualism,  self-reliant,  self- 
centered,  far  more  conscious  of  its  rights  than  of  its  duties,  and  blind  to  its 
own  shortcomings. 

"  To  the  hard  materialism  of  the  frontier  days  succeeds  the  hard  material 
ism  of  an  industrialism  even  more  intense  and  absorbing  than  that  of  the  older 
nations ;  although  these  themselves  have  likewise  already  entered  on  the  age  of 
a  complex  and  predominantly  industrial  civilization. 

"  It  is  for  us  of  the  New  World  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  Gamaliel  of  the 
Old ;  then,  if  we  have  the  right  stuff  in  us,  we  can  show  that  Paul  in  his  turn 
can  become  a  teacher  as  well  as  a  scholar. 

"  To-day  I  shall  speak  to  you  on  the  subject  of  individual  citizenship,  the 
one  subject  of  vital  importance  to  you,  my  hearers,  and  to  me  and  my  country 
men,  because  you  and  we  are  citizens  of  great  democratic  republics.  A 
democratic  republic  such  as  each  of  ours — an  effort  to  realize  in  its  full  sense 
government  by,  of,  and  for  the  people — represents  the  most  gigantic  of  all 
possible  social  experiments,  the  one  fraught  with  greatest  possibilities  alike  for 
good  and  for  evil. 

"  With  you  here  and  with  us  in  my  own  home,  in  the  long  run,  success  or 
failure  will  be  conditioned  upon  the  way  in  which  the  average  man,  the  average 
woman,  does  his  or  her  duty  first  in  the  ordinary,  every-day  affairs  of  life  and 
next  in  those  great  occasional  crises  which  call  for  the  heroic  virtues. 

GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  SUCCESS  OF  A  REPUBLIC. 

"  The  average  citizen  must  be  a  good  citizen  if  our  republics  are  to  suc 
ceed.  The  stream  will  not  permanently  rise  higher  thati  the  main  source; 
and  the  main  source  of  national  power  and  national  greatness  is  found  in  the 
average  citizenship  of  the  nation.  Therefore  it  behooves  us  to  do  our  best  to 
see  that  the  standard  of  the  average  citizen  is  kept  high;  and  the  average 
cannot  be  kept  high  unless  the  standard  of  the  leaders  is  very  much  higher. 

"It  is  well  if  a  large  proportion  of  the  leaders  in  any  republic,  in  any 
democracy,  are  drawn  from  the  classes  represented  in  this  audience  to-day; 
but  only  provided  that  those  classes  possess  the  gifts  of  sympathy  with  plain 
people  and  of  devotion  to  great  ideals.  You  and  those  like  you  have  received 
special  advantages ;  you  have  all  of  you  had  the  opportunity  for  mental  train 
ing;  many  of  you  have  had  leisure;  most  of  you  have  had  a  chance  for  the 
enjoyment  of  life  far  greater  than  comes  to  the  majority  of  your  fellows.  To 
you  and  your  kind  much  has  been  given,  and  from  you  much  should  be  ex 
pected. 

"  Let  the  man  of  learning,  the  man  of  lettered  leisure,  beware  of  that 
queer  and  cheap  temptation  to  pose  to  himself  and  to  others  as  the  cynic,  as 
the  man  who  has  outgrown  emotions  and  beliefs,  the  man  to  whom  good  and 
evil  are  as  one.  The  poorest  way  to  face  life  is  to  face  it  with  a  sneer. 

"  It  is  not  the  critic  who  counts ;  not  the  man  who  points  out  how  the 
strong  man  stumbles,  or  where  the  doer  of  deeds  could  have  done  them  better. 

"  The  credit  belongs  to  the  man  who  is  actually  in  the  arena,  whose  face  is 


326  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  PARIS  SPEECH. 

marred  by  dust  and  sweat  anl  blood;  who  strives  valiantly;  who  errs,  and 
comes  short  again  and  again,  because  there  is  no  effort  without  error  and 
shortcoming ;  but  who  does  actually  strive  to  do  the  deeds ;  who  knows  the 
great  enthusiasm,  the  great  devotions ;  who  spends  himself  in  a  worthy  cause ; 
who  at  the  best  knows  in  the  end  the  triumph  of  high  achievement,  and  who  at 
the  worst,  if  he  fails,  at  least  fails  while  daring  greatly,  so  that  his  place  shall 
never  be  with  those  cold  and  timid  souls  who  knew  neither  victory  nor  defeat. 

"  Shame  on  the  man  of  cultivated  taste  who  permits  refinement  to  develop 
in  a  fastidiousness  that  unfits  him  for  doing  the  rough  work  of  a  workaday 
world.  Among  the  free  people  who  govern  themselves  there  is  only  a  small 
field  of  usefulness  open  for  the  men  of  cloistered  life  who  shrink  from  contact 
with  their  fellows.  Still  less  room  is  there  for  those  who  deride  or  slight  what 
is  done  by  those  who  actually  bear  the  brunt  of  the  day;  nor  yet  for  those 
others  who  always  profess  that  they  would  like  to  take  action.  If  only  the 
conditions  of  life  were  not  what  they  actually  are. 

"  The  man  who  does  nothing  cuts  the  same  sordid  figure  in  the  pages  of 
history,  whether  he  be  cynic,  or  fop,  or  voluptuary.  There  is  little  use  for  the 
being  whose  tepid  soul  knows  nothing  of  the  great  and  generous  emotion,  of 
the  high  pride,  the  stern  belief,  the  lofty  enthusiasm  of  the  men  who  quell  the 
storm  and  ride  the  thunder. 

GOOD  CHARACTER  A  PRIMARY  ESSENTIAL. 

"  There  is  need  of  a  sound  body,  and  even  more  need  of  a  sound  mind. 
But  above  mind  and  above  body  stands  character — the  sum  of  those  qualities 
which  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  a  man's  force  and  courage,  of  his  good  faith 
and  sense  of  honor. 

"  Self-restraint,  self-mastery,  common-sense,  the  power  of  accepting  indi 
vidual  responsibility  and  yet  of  acting  in  conjunction  with  others,  courage  and 
resolution — these  are  the  qualities  which  mark  a  masterful  people. 

"  I  pay  all  homage  to  intellect,  and  to  elaborate  and  specialized  training 
of  the  intellect;  and  yet  I  know  I  shall  have  the  assent  of  all  of  you  present 
when  I  add  that  more  important  still  are  the  commonplace,  every-day  qualities 
and  virtues. 

"  Such  ordinary,  every-day  qualities  include  the  will  and  the  power  to  work, 
to  fight  at  need,  and  to  have  plenty  of  healthy  children.  There  are  a  few 
people  in  every  country  so  born  that  they  can  lead  lives  of  leisure.  These  fill 
a  useful  function  if  they  make  it  evident  that  leisure  does  not  mean  idleness. 
But  the  average  man  must  earn  his  own  livelihood.  He  should  be  trained  to 
do  so,  and  should  be  trained  to  feel  that  he  occupies  a  contemptible  position 
if  he  does  not  do  so;  that  he  is  not  an  object  of  envy  if  he  is  idle,  at  whichever 
end  of  the  social  scale  he  stands,  but  an  object  of  contempt,  an  object  of 
derision. 

"  In  the  next  place,  the  good  man  should  be  both  a  strong  and  a  brave 
man ;  that  is,  he  should  be  able  to  fight,  he  should  be  able  to  serve  his  country 
as  a  soldier  if  the  need  arises.  There  are  well-meaning  philosophers  who 
declaim  against  the  unrighteousness  of  war.  They  are  right  only  if  they  lay 
all  their  emphasis  upon  the  unrighteousness.  War  is  a  dreadful  thing,  and 
unjust  war  is  a  crime  against  humanity.  But  it  is  such  a  crime  because  it  is 
unjust,  not  because  it  is  war. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S   PARIS  SPEECH.  327 

"  The  choice  must  ever  be  in  favor  of  righteousness,  and  this  whether 
the  peace  or  whether  the  alternative  be  war.  The  question  must  not  be 
merely,  Is  there  to  be  peace  or  war?  The  question  must  be,  Is  the  right  to 
prevail?  Are  the  great  laws  of  righteousness  once  more  to  be  fulfilled?  And 
the  answer  from  a  strong  and  virile  people  must  be  '  Yes/  whatever  the  cost. 

"  Finally,  even  more  important  than  ability  to  work,  even  more  important 
than  ability  to  fight  at  need,  is  it  to  remember  that  the  chief  of  blessings  for 
any  nation  is  that  it  shall  leave  its  seed  to  inherit  the  land.  It  was  the  crown 
of  blessing  in  Biblical  times;  and  it  is  the  crown  of  blessings  now.  The 
greatest  of  all  curses  is  the  curse  of  sterlity,  and  the  severest  of  all  condemna 
tions  should  be  visited  upon  wilful  sterility. 

"  The  first  essential  in  any  civilization  is  that  the  man  and  the  woman 
shall  be  father  and  mother  of  healthy  children,  so  that  the  race  shall  increase 
and  not  decrease.  If  this  is  not  so,  if  through  no  fault  of  the  society  there 
is  failure  to  increase,  it  is  a  great  misfortune.  If  the  failure  is  due  to  de 
liberate  and  wilful  fault,  then  it  is  not  merely  a  misfortune,  it  is  one  of  those 
crimes  of  ease  and  self-indulgence,  of  shrinking  from  pain  and  effort  and  risk, 
which  in  the  long  run  Nature  punishes  more  heavily  than  any  other. 

UNIVERSAL   EMANCIPATION. 

"  If  we  of  the  great  republic,  if  we,  the  free  people  who  claim  to  have 
emancipated  ourselves  from  the  thraldom  of  wrong  and  error,  bring  down  on 
our  heads  the  curse  that  comes  upon  the  wilfully  barren,  then  it  will  be  an  idle 
waste  of  breath  to  prattle  of  our  achievements,  to  boast  of  all  that  we  have 
done. 

"  No  refinement  of  life,  no  delicacy  of  taste,  no  material  progress,  no 
sordid  heaping  up  of  riches,  no  sensuous  development  of  art  and  literature, 
can  in  any  way  compensate  for  the  loss  of  the  great  fundamental  virtues ;  and 
of  these  great  fundamental  virtues,  the  greatest  is  the  race's  power  to  per 
petuate  the  race. 

"  Nevertheless,  while  laying  all  stress  on  this  point,  while  not  merely 
acknowledging  but  insisting  upon  the  fact  that  there  must  be  a  basis  of  material 
well-being  for  the  individual  as  for  the  nation,  let  us  with  equal  emphasis 
insist  that  this  material  well-being  represents  nothing  but  the  foundation,  and 
that  the  foundation,  though  indispensable,  is  worthless  unless  upon  it  is  raised 
the  superstructure  of  a  higher  life. 

"  That  is  why  I  decline  to  recognize  the  mere  multi-millionaire,  the  man 
of  mere  wealth,  as  an  asset  of  value  to  any  country ;  and  especially  as  not  an 
asset  to  my  own  country.  If  he  has  earned  or  uses  his  wealth  in  a  way  that 
makes  him  of  real  benefit,  of  real  use — and  such  is  often  the  case — why  then 
he  does  become  an  asset  of  worth. 

"  But  it  is  the  way  in  which  it  has  been  earned  or  used,  and  not  the  mere 
fact  of  wealth,  that  entitles  him  to  the  credit.  There  is  need  in  business,  as  in 
most  other  forms  of  human  activity,  of  the  great  guiding  intelligence.  Their 
places  cannot  be  supplied  by  any  number  of  lesser  intelligences.  But  we  must 
not  transfer  our  admiration  to  the  reward  instead  of  to  the  deed  rewarded. 

"  It  is  a  bad  thing  for  a  nation  to  raise  and  to  admire  a  false  standard  of 
success ;  and  there  can  be  no  falser  standard  than  that  set  by  the  deification  of 
material  well-being  in  and  for  itself. 


328  COLONEL   ROOSEVELT'S  PARIS  SPEECH. 

"  But  the  man  who,  having  far  surpassed  the  limit  of  providing  for  the 
wants,  both  of  body  and  mind,  of  himself  and  of  those  depending  upon  him, 
then  piles  up  a  great  fortune,  for  the  acquisition  or  retention  of  which  he 
returns  no  corresponding  benefit  to  the  nation  as  a  whole,  should  himeslf  be 
made  to  feel  that,  so  far  from  being  a  desirable,  he  is  an  unworthy,  citizen  of 
the  community. 

"  So  it  is  with  the  orator.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  a  leader  of  opinion 
in  a  democracy  should  be  able  to  state  his  views  clearly  and  convincingly.  But 
all  that  the  oratory  can  do  of  value  to  the  community  is  to  enable  the  man  thus 
to  explain  himself ;  if  it  makes  the  orator  to  persuade  his  hearers  to  put  false 
values  on  things,  it  merely  makes  him  a  power  for  mischief. 

"  The  phrase-maker,  the  phrase-monger,  the  ready  talker,  however  great 
his  power,  whose  speech  does  not  make  for  courage,  sobriety,  and  right  under 
standing,  is  simply  a  noxious  element  in  the  body  politic,  and  it  speaks  ill  for 
the  public  if  he  has  influence  over  them. 

"  Of  course  all  that  I  say  of  the  orator  applies  with  even  greater  force  to 
the  orator's  latter-day  and  more  influential  brother,  the  journalist.  The  power 
of  the  journalist  is  great,  but  he  is  entitled  neither  to  respect  nor  admiration 
because  of  that  power  unless  it  is  used  aright.  He  can  do,  and  he  often  does, 
great  good.  He  can  do,  and  he  often  does,  infinite  mischief.  All  journalists, 
all  writers,  for  the  very  reason  that  they  appreciate  the  vast  possibilities  of 
their  profession,  should  bear  testimony  against  those  who  deeply  discredit  it. 

JOURNALISTIC    MISTAKES. 

"  Offences  against  taste  and  morals,  which  are  bad  enough  in  a  private 
citizen,  are  infinitely  worse  if  made  into  instruments  for  debauching  the  com 
munity  through  a  newspaper.  Mendacity,  slander,  sensationalism,  inanity, 
vapid  triviality,  all  are  potent  factors  for  the  debauchery  of  the  public  mind 
and  conscience.  The  excuse  advanced  for  vicious  writing,  that  the  public 
demands  it  and  that  the  demand  must  be  supplied,  can  no  more  be  admitted 
than  if  it  were  advanced  by  the  purveyors  of  food  who  sell  poisonous  adultera 
tions. 

"  In  short,  the  good  citizen  in  a  republic  must  realize  that  he  ought  to 
possess  two  sets  of  qualities,  and  that  neither  avails  without  the  other.  He 
must  have  those  qualities  which  make  for  efficiency ;  and  he  must  also  have 
those  qualities  which  direct  the  efficiency  into  channels  for  the  public  good. 

"  He  is  useless  if  he  is  inefficient.  There  is  nothing  to  be  done  with  that 
type  of  citizen  of  whom  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  he  is  harmless.  Virtue 
which  is  dependent  upon  a  sluggish  circulation  is  not  impressive.  There  is 
little  place  in  active  life  for  the  timid  good  man.  The  man  who  is  saved  by 
weakness  from  robust  wickedness  is  likewise  rendered  immune  from  the  ro- 
buster  virtues. 

"  The  good  citizen  in  a  republic  must,  first  of  all,  be  able  to  hold  his  own. 
He  is  no  good  citizen  unless  he  has  the  ability  which  will  make  him  work  hard 
and  which  at  need  will  make  him  fight  hard.  The  good  citizen  is  not  a  good 
citizen  unless  he  is  an  efficient  citizen. 

"  The  homely  virtues  of  the  household,  the  ordinary  workaday  virtues 
which  make  the  woman  a  good  housewife  and  housemother,  which  make  the 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  PARIS  SPEECH.  329 

man  a  hard  worker,  a  good  husband  and  father,  a  good  soldier  at  need,  stand 
at  the  bottom  of  character. 

"  Good  citizenship  is  not  good  citizenship  only  in  the  home.  There  remain 
the  duties  of  the  individual  in  relation  to  the  State,  and  these  duties  are  none 
too  easy  under  the  conditions  which  exist  where  the  effort  is  made  to  carry  on 
free  government  in  a  complex,  industrial  civilization.  Perhaps  the  most  im 
portant  thing  the  ordinary  citizen,  and,  above  all,  the  leader  of  ordinary  citizens, 
has  to  remember  in  political  life  is  that  he  must  not  be  a  sheer  doctrinaire. 

"  Woe  to  the  empty  phrase-maker,  to  the  empty  Idealist,  who,  instead  of 
making  ready  the  ground  for  the  man  of  action  turns  against  him  when  he 
appears  and  hampers  him  as  he  does  the  work !  We  should  abhor  the  so-called 
'  practical '  men  whose  practicality  assumes  the  shape  of  that  peculiar  baseness 
which  finds  its  expression  in  disbelief  in  morality  and  decency,  in  disregard  of 
high  standards  of  living  and  conduct. 

"  But  only  less  desirable  as  a  citizen  is  his  nominal  opponent  and  real  ally, 
the  man  of  fantastic  vision  who  makes  the  impossible  better  forever  the  enemy 
of  the  possible  good. 

"  Individual  initiative,  so  far  from  being  discouraged,  should  be  stimu 
lated;  and  yet  we  should  remember  that,  as  society  develops  and  grows  more 
complex,  we  continually  find  that  things  which  once  it  was  desirable  to  leave 
to  individual  initiative  can,  under  the  changed  conditions,  be  performed  with 
better  results  by  common  effort. 

"  Much  of  the  discussion  about  socialism  and  individualism  is  entirely 
pointless,  because  of  failure  to  agree  on  terminology.  I  am  a  strong  indivi 
dualist  by  personal  habit,  inheritance,  and  conviction;  but  it  is  mere  common 
sense  to  recognize  that  the  State,  the  community,  the  citizens  acting  together, 
can  do  a  number  of  things  better  than  if  they  were  left  to  individual  action. 

JUSTICE  AND  EQUALITY   FOR  ALL. 

"  We  ought  to  go  with  any  man  in  the  effort  to  bring  about  justice  and 
the  equality  of  opportunity,  to  turn  the  tool  user  more  and  more  into  the  tool 
owner,  to  shift  burdens  so  that  they  can  be  more  equitably  borne.  The  dead 
ening  effect  on  any  race  of  the  adoption  of  a  logical  and  extreme  socialistic 
system  could  not  be  overstated;  it  would  spell  sheer  destruction. 

"  But  we  should  not  take  part  in  acting  a  lie  any  more  than  in  telling  a  lie. 
We  should  not  say  that  men  are  equal  where  they  are  not  equal,  nor  proceed 
upon  the  assumption  that  there  is  an  equality  where  it  does  not  exist;  but  we 
should  strive  to  bring  about  a  measurable  equality,  at  least  to  the  extent  of 
preventing  the  inequality  which  is  due  to  force  or  fraud. 

"  There  should,  so  far  as  possible,  be  equality  of  opportunity  to  render 
service;  but  just  so  long  as  there  is  inequality  of  service  there  should  and  must 
be  inequality  of  reward.  The  reward  must  go  to  the  man  who  does  his  work 
well. 

"  Let  us  try  to  level  up,  but  let  us  beware  of  the  evil  of  leveling  down.  If 
a  man  stumbles,  it  is  a  good  thing  to  help  him  to  his  feet.  But  if  a  man  lies 
down,  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  try  to  carry  him. 

"  There  are  plenty  of  men  calling  themselves  Socialists  with  whom,  up  to 
a  time  point,  it  is  quite  possible  to  work.  If  the  next  step  is  one  which  both 


330  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  PARIS  SPEECH. 

we  and  they  wish  to  take,  why,  of  course,  take  it,  without  any  regard  to  the 
fact  that  our  views  as  to  the  tenth  step  may  differ.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
keep  clearly  in  mind  that,  though  it  has  been  worth  while  to  take  the  step,  this 
does  not  in  the  least  mean  that  it  may  not  be  highly  disadvantageous  to  take 
the  next. 

"  The  good  citizen  will  demand  liberty  for  himself,  and  he  will  see  to  it 
that  others  receive  the  liberty  which  he  thus  claims  as  his  own.  Probably  the 
best  test  of  true  love  of  liberty  in  any  country  is  the  way  in  which  minorities 
are  treated  in  religion  and  opinion,  but  complete  liberty  for  each  man  to  lead 
his  life  as  he  desires,  provided  only  that  in  so  doing  he  does  not  wrong  his 
neighbor. 

"  There  is  no  greater  need  to-day  than  the  need  to  keep  ever  in  mind  the 
fact  that  the  cleavage  between  right  and  wrong,  between  good  citizenship  and 
bad  citizenship,  runs  at  right  angles  to,  and  not  parallel  with,  the  lines  of 
cleavage  between  class  and  class,  between  occupation  and  occupation.  Ruin 
looks  us  in  the  face  if  we  judge  a  man  by  his  position  instead  of  judging  him  by 
his  conduct  in  that  position. 

"  Of  one  man  in  especial,  beyond  any  one  else,  the  citizens  of  a  republic 
should  beware,  and  that  is  of  the  man  who  appeals  to  them  to  support  him  on 
the  ground  that  he  is  hostile  to  other  citizens  of  the  republic,  that  he  will  obtain 
for  those  who  elect  him,  in  one  shape  or  another,  profit  at  the  expense  of  other 
citizens  of  the  republic. 

"  If  a  public  man  tries  to  get  your  vote  by  saying  that  he  will  do  some 
thing  wrong  in  your  interest,  you  can  be  absolutely  certain  that  if  ever  it 
becomes  worth  his  while  he  will  do  something  wrong  against  your  interest. 

"  I  believe  that  a  man  must  be  a  good  patriot  before  he  can  be,  and  as  the 
only  possible  way  of  being,  a  good  citizen  of  the  world.  Experience  teaches 
us  that  the  average  man  who  protests  that  his  international  feeling  swamps  his 
national  feeling,  that  he  does  not  care  for  his  country  because  he  cares  so  much 
for  mankind,  in  actual  practice  proves  himself  the  foe  of  mankind;  that  the 
man  who  says  that  he  does  not  care  to  be  a  citizen  of  any  one  country,  because 
he  is  a  citizen  of  the  world,  is  in  very  fact  usually  an  exceedingly  undesirable 
citizen  of  whatever  corner  of  the  world  he  happens  at  the  moment  to  be  in. 

"  I  do  not  for  one  moment  admit  that  political  morality  is  different  from 
private  morality,  that  a  promise  made  on  the  stump  differs  from  a  promise 
made  in  private  life.  I  do  not  for  one  moment  admit  that  a  man  should  act 
deceitfully  as  a  public  servant  in  his  dealings  with  other  nations,  any  more 
than  that  he  should  act  deceitfully  in  his  dealings  as  a  private  citizen  with  other 
private  citizens.  I  do  not  for  one  moment  admit  that  a  nation  should  treat 
other  nations  in  a  different  spirit  from  that  in  which  an  honorable  man  would 
treat  other  men." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF   HONOR. 

ROOSEVELT  FETED  BY  KING  OF  BELGIUM — GREETED  AS  KIN 
BY  THE  DUTCH — GUEST  AT  QUEEN'S  PALACE — VISITS 
AMSTERDAM  AND  THE  HAGUE — WELCOMED  BY  CROWN 
PRINCE  CHRISTIAN  OF  DENMARK — WARMLY  RECEIVED  BY 
THE  KING  AND  QUEEN  OF  NORWAY. 

IN  his  transcontinental  game,  which  increased  in  fervor  and  ex 
citement  as  he  progressed,  Colonel  Roosevelt  drew  his  third 
king,  looking  happier,  if  possible,  than  when  Italy's  ruler  and 
Austria's  Emperor  were  added  to  his  score  of  popularity  abroad. 

The  ex-President  met  King  Albert,  of  Belgium,  on  April  28, 
and  they  exchanged  cordial  greetings,  later  driving  together  from 
the  Brussels  exposition  to  Laaken  Palace  and  spending  an  hour 
in  the  gardens. 

The  Belgian  people  gave  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and 
their  children  a  warm  welcome  on  their  arrival  in  Brussels  from 
Paris  at  noon.  Not  since  the  Coronation  of  King  Albert  had  the 
city  seen  such  crowds  as  those  who  turned  out  to  welcome  the 
distinguished  American.  After  luncheon  at  the  American  em 
bassy  and  a  reception  for  the  American  colony,  the  Colonel  visited 
the  exposition,  and  his  appearance  there  was  marked  by  a  double 
demonstration  for  himself  and  the  king. 

The  Salle  des  Fetes,  where  the  ex-President  spoke,  was 
packed  to  the  doors,  and  several  thousand  persons  were  unable 
to  gain  admission.  While  the  Colonel  waited  in  the  reception 
room  in  the  rear  of  the  stage  the  young  king  arrived  by  the  side 
entrance. 

The  king  strode  forward  and  no  introductions  were  necessary, 
as  they  had  met  in  the  United  States  when  the  king  was  a  crown 
prince.  After  a  warm  handshake  they  talked  for  several  minutes 
in  low  tones.  He  told  Mr.  Roosevelt  how  glad  he  was  to  welcome 
him  to  Belgium. 

331 


332  DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR. 

King  Albert  then  with  a  profound  bow,  retired  and  entered 
the  hall,  taking  his  place  on  a  gilded,  red  cushioned  chair  immedi 
ately  below  the  front  of  the  stage.  The  crowd  applauded  lustily 
as  the  king  entered  but  the  outburst  was  mild  compared  with  the 
roar  which  greeted  the  colonel  a  moment  later. 

A  dinner  was  given  in  the  evening  by  the  king,  but  as  the 
court  was  still  in  semi-mourning,  the  ladies  wore  black  gowns. 
The  ex-President  sat  beside  the  queen,  while  Mrs.  Roosevelt  occu 
pied  the  chair  next  the  king.  The  others  present  included  the 
members  of  the  royal  family  and  high  officials.  The  Roosevelts 
left  early  the  next  morning  for  Holland. 

The  people  of  the  Netherlands  turned  out  and  welcomed  the 
Roosevelts  as  though  they  were  home  folks.  It  was  as  though 
the  former  President  were  traveling  through  his  own  country.  At 
every  station  on  the  route  from  Roosendaal  to  Arnhem,  cheering 
crowds  were  met  and  everybody  wanted  a  speech. 

ENTHUSIASTIC  SERIES  OF  DEMON  STATIONS. 

This  enthusiastic  series  of  demonstrations  continued  all  the 
way  to  Amsterdam,  where  the  Roosevelts  arrived  in  the  evening. 

Occasionally  Colonel  Roosevelt  responded  to  the  clamor  for  a 
speech,  but  in  most  instances  he  acknowledged  the  greetings  only 
by  appearing  on  the  rear  platform  of  his  car  and  bowing,  smiling 
and  waving  his  hand.  At  Hertogenbosch  he  spoke  briefly  and 
greatly  pleased  his  auditors  by  saying :  "I  am  visiting  the  country 
from  which  my  people  came  three  centuries  ago." 

When  the  Roosevelt  party  arrived  at  the  frontier  station  of 
Roosendaal,  they  were  met  by  a  special  train  sent  at  the  direct 
request  of  Queen  Wilhelmina.  A  distinguished  party  of  officials 
and  military  men  formed  the  reception  committee. 

A  day  of  much  travel  had  been  mapped  out  for  the  former 
President.  From  the  border  the  special  train  started  for  Het  Loo, 
nearly  eighty  miles  west  of  The  Hague,  where  Queen  Wilhelmina 
awaited  the  nation's  guest  at  the  famous  castle. 

At  Het  Loo,  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  received  in  the  main  hall 
of  the  palace  by  the  Queen  and  Prince  Henry.  Their  welcome 


DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR.  333 

was  so  cordial  as  to  seem  entirely  personal,  formality  being  left  in 
the  background,  to  be  supplied  by  the  troops  and  retainers  in  and 
about  the  palace.  Several  hours  were  spent  at  the  palace. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  awakened  the  following  morning  by 
the  singing  of  Holland's  National  Hymn  by  bands  of  cadets  who 
marched  through  the  square  overlooking  the  apartments  of  the 
Roosevelt  party. 

The  singers  were  acclaiming  the  birthday  of  the  Princess 
Juliana  Louise  Emma  Marie  Wilhelmina.  The  royal  baby  was 
one  year  old  that  day  and  the  capital  made  a  holiday  of  the  anni 
versary.  A  reception  by  the  Queen  Mother  was  one  of  the  chief 
features  on  Colonel  Roosevelt's  program  for  the  day. 

Before  the  meeting  with  the  Queen  Mother  the  Roosevelt 
party  visited  the  house  in  the  woods  where  the  first  peace  meeting 
was  held. 

THE  QUEEN  MOTHER  DISPLAYS  MUCH  INTEREST. 

The  Queen  mother  displayed  much  interest  in  Colonel  Roose 
velt's  Dutch  ancestry.  She  spoke,  too,  of  his  address  of  the 
preceding  day  in  which  he  quoted  an  old  Dutch  nursery  rhyme. 
She  mentioned  the  verses  and  displayed  her  interest  in  such  mod 
ern  folklore  by  repeating  to  him  other  rhymes  which  she  had 
crooned  over  the  royal  cradle  as  a  young  mother. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  remained  half  an  hour  in  conversation  with 
the  queen  mother,  who  then  received  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  Miss  Ethel 
and  Kermit. 

The  next  day  was  given  over  to  an  inspection  of  the  mag 
nificent  display  of  tulips,  which  were  then  in  perfection,  and  of 
Dutch  painting. 

The  Colonel  was  presented  with  a  silver  model  of  the  Half 
Moon  at  the  National  Tulip  Show  at  Haarlem  by  M.  Kregage,  say 
ing,  "You  may  call  it  the  Half  Moon  or  the  Mayflower,  just  as 
you  like.  '* 

In  a  brief  address,  M.  Krelage  described  the  exhibition  and  the 
tulip  industry,  pointing  out  that  Holland  shipped  to  America  8,200,- 
ooo  pounds  of  bulbs  yearly. 


334  DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR. 

In  replying,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said  :  "  Americans  always  are 
especially  struck  in  Holland  by  the  way  in  which  yon,  one  of  the 
hardest  working  peoples  of  all  people,  contrive  to  add  beauty  and 
enjoyment  to  your  lives.  We  in  America  have  in  the  past  had  to 
work  so  hard  that  we  have  not  always  been  able  to  pay  as  much 
attention  as  you  to  the  things  that  tend  to  enjoyment,  and,  if  one 
or  the  other  must  be  sacrificed,  we  think  that  enjoyment  should  be 
sacrificed  to  work,  but  more  and  more  we  are  growing  to  realize 
that  beauty  and  enjoyment  can  be  combined  with  work.  Ameri 
cans  come  here  to  see  how  you  are  able  to  combine  them," 

After  an  inspection  of  the  wonderful  gardens,  the  party  par 
took  of  luncheon  and  paid  a  visit  to  the  fine  gallery  of  the  town 
hall,  groups  of  girls  pelting  them  with  flowers  at  the  entrance. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  signed  his  name  in  the  Golden  Book. 

From  Harlaam  the  automobiles  carried  them  to  Amsterdam. 
They  were  received  by  the  Burgomasters  at  the  Ryks  Museum. 
Probably  5,000  persons  were  waiting  in  the  public  square,  and  set 
up  a  hearty  cheer  on  the  arrival  of  the  American  visitors. 

THE  COLONEL  AND  FAMILY  LEAVE  FOR  COPENHAGEN. 

After  dining  with  Secretary  Hibben  in  Amsterdam  the  Colo 
nel  and  his  family  boarded  the  train,  which  left  at  9  o'clock  for 
Copenhagen. 

The  Stars  and  Stripes  floated  above  the  royal  palaces  on  May 
2,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Denmark,  and  former  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt,  in  the  absence  of  King  Frederick  in  Southern 
France,  was  the  guest  of  Crown  Prince  Christian. 

With  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  breezy  democracy  struck 
the  Danish  court  with  a  rush,  upon  the  heels  of  circumstance. 
When  he  arrived  he  found  Crown  Prince  Christian  awaiting  him 
at  the  station,  with  thousands  standing  in  the  streets  nearby. 

The  Prince  drove  with  the  Colonel  to  one  of  the  palaces, 
which  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  distinguished  American 
and  his  party. 

The  Prince  was  delighted  at  the  informal  nature  of  the  meet 
ing  between  himself  and  the  Colonel.  The  Danish  court  is 

H.B.G.—3L 


DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR.  335 

noted  for  its  formality,  but  his  missing  baggage  that  had  gone 
astray  seemed  to  press  heavily  on  Roosevelt's  mind.  No  sooner 
had  he  been  presented  to  the  crown  prince  than  he  took  the 
prince's  arm  and  said:  "  I  want  to  tell  you  about  my  baggage." 
The  story  was  soon  told,  and  it  put  things  at  once  on  a  general 
good  footing. 

Roosevelt  seemed  to  have  established  two  records  at  the  royal 
palace.  The  first  was  his  dining  there  formally  in  a  gray  flannel 
suit,  and  the  second  consists  in  the  fact  that  he  was  the  only 
private  citizen  who  ever  put  up  there  as  a  guest.  To  this  had 
been  added  a  guard  of  honor  at  the  palace.  It  was  whispered  that 
some  of  the  older  aristocrats  were  not  too  well  pleased  with  all  this. 

The  prince  presiding  at  dinner  in  the  evening  as  the  king's 
representative  thanked  Roosevelt  for  coming  to  that  country,  and 
proposed  his  health,  which  was  heartily  responded  to  by  those 
around  the  table,  who  included  the  leading  personages  in  the 
kingdom,  in  court,  parliamentary  and  scholarly  life. 

THE  COLONEL  THANKS  THE  PRINCE  FOR  HIS  HOSPITALITY. 

The  Colonel  in  reply  said  he  had  received  a  cordial  message 
from  the  king,  and  thanked  the  prince  for  his  hospitality.  He 
then  proposed  a  toast  to  the  king  and  the  royal  family  of  Den 
mark. 

At  a  reception  given  by  Maurice  F.  Hgan,  the  American 
minister,  at  the  legation,  the  former  President  met  the  diplomatic 
representatives,  the  cabinet  ministers  and  many  persons  prominent 
in  the  various  departments  of  public  activity.  By  this  time  the 
missing  baggage  had  been  found,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  thus 
able  to  array  himself  in  the  conventional  dress  clothes.  That 
night  Miss  Ethel  Roosevelt  slept  in  the  bedroom  that  is  reserved 
for  the  queen  of  England. 

With  the  crown  prince,  before  dinner,  the  Colonel  visited 
Prince  Waldemar  and  Prince  Hans,  who  is  an  uncle  of  the  queen 
of  England. 

"  Perchance  'twill  walk  again.  I'll  speak  to  it,  though  hell 
itself  should  gape  and  bid  me  hold  my  peace." 


336  UiSTlNtiUlSHIMJ  MAKKb  OP 

According  to  Shakespeare  these  were  the  words  of  Hamlet, 
Prince  of  Denmark,  when  he  learned  that  his  father's  ghost  was 
walking  beneath  the  walls  of  Castle  Kronberg  at  Elsinore. 

"  I'll  speak  to  it,  though  hell  itself  should  gape  and  bid  me 
hold  my  peace,"  repeated  Theodore  Roosevelt,  retracing  the  royal 
slave's  footsteps  on  the  walls  of  the  historic  Castle  of  Elsinore. 
Of  course,  no  one  knows  whether  the  Colonel  had  in  mind  any 
particular  person,  any  critic,  any  opposing  will  when  he  reiterated 
Hamlet's  determined  words. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  immensely  interested  at  Elsinore.  He 
listened  intently  to  the  relation  of  the  local  tradition  that  Shake 
speare  visited  Elsinore  with  a  party  of  players,  and  that  the  idea 
of  his  great  tragedy,  "  Hamlet,"  came  to  him  there.  The  Colonel 
was  told,  too,  that  Guildenstern,  whom  Shakespeare  made  a 
courtier  at  the  Danish  court,  actually  lived  at  Elsinore,  and,  having 
met  Shakespeare  there,  visited  him  later  in  England. 

THE  COLONEL  VASTLY  PLEASED. 

Although  vastly  pleased  with  the  entertainments,  all  of  which 
were  given  in  the  name  of  King  Frederick,  although  he  was  in 
South  France,  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  plainly  glad  as  he  coiled  up  in  a 
sleeping  car  bunk  that  night,  en  route  for  Christiania.  His  rest  in 
a  royal  bed  the  preceding  night  was  curtailed  by  the  necessity  of 
arising  early. 

A  crowd  was  attracted  that  morning  by  the  unprecedented 
sight  of  a  flag  other  than  Denmark's,  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  float 
ing  over  the  royal  castle.  The  crowd  cheered  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
his  party  as  they  departed  in  automobiles  for  the  seventeenth 
century  castle  of  Frederick sborg. 

After  inspecting  the  castle,  a  perfect  example  of  Dutch  Ren 
aissance  architecture,  the  party  visited  the  Alemhouse,  which  is 
established  in  an  ancient  Carmelite  monastery,  restored.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  with  gifts  rejoiced  the  hearts  of  the  old  women 
living  in  the  cells  where  dwelt  in  solitude  the  monks  of  old.  But 
the  Colonel  most  enjoyed  walking  the  castle  ramparts.  At  Elsi- 


DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR.  337 

nore  the  party  boarded  a  steamer  for  a  trip  through  the  sound 
that  separates  Denmark  from  Sweden. 

Honors  usually  accorded  only  to  royalty  were  paid  to  Colonel 
Roosevelt  by  the  Danish  and  Swedish  Governments  which  ordered 
their  squadrons  of  warships  to  take  positions  at  intervals  along 
the  Danish  coast  and  to  salute  the  ex-President  as  he  passed  on  a 
passenger  steamer  from  Helsingor  to  Copenhagen.  The  flags  on 
the  warships  were  dipped,  officers  and  men  stood  at  attention,  and 
the  ship  bands  played  American  airs  as  the.  Roosevelt  party 
passed  by. 

In  an  interview  given  just  before  his  start  for  Christiania,  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said  that  the  little  nation  of  Denmark  was  able  to  teach 
several  lessons  from  which  greater  Powers  might  well  profit.  The 
Danish  system  of  small  holdings  and  intensive  farming,  he  said, 
was  the  only  answer  to  the  problem  of  how  to  make  a  densely 
populated  country  self-supporting.  The  system  by  which  Den 
mark  cares  for  her  aged  and  infirm  is  also,  he  said,  a  phase  of  gov 
ernment  that  other  nations  should  study. 

A  SPLENDID  VIEW  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

Before  sailing  the  Roosevelt's  had  a  splendid  view  of  the 
country.  Accompanied  by  several  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
American  Ambassador  Egan  and  other  officials  and  friends,  they 
motored  to  the  castle  of  Fredericksborg  and  visited  the  National 
Museum.  They  then  went  on  to  Helsingoer,  where  they  were 
luncheon  guests  of  Vice- Admiral  DeRichelieu  on  board  the  steamer 
Queen  Maud. 

Following  the  luncheon  Col.  Roosevelt  was  presented  infor 
mally  with  two  loving  cups  by  the  steamship  company.  The 
loving  cups  are  of  Copenhagen  ware,  one  bearing  the  Danish  arms 
and  the  other  the  American  arms.  A  representative  of  the  Royal 
Porcelain  Works  gave  the  former  President  four  plaques  upon 
which  were  pictured  several  of  the  beasts  of  Africa. 

Col.  Roosevelt  accepted  the  plaques  graciously,  and  while 
examining  the  figure  of  an  elephant  looked  up  suddenly  and  said 
smilingly :  "  This  is  not  an  African  elephant." 

22— M.I, 


338  DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF   HONOR. 

"  That  is  quite  true,"  replied  the  manager.  "  These  plates 
were  made  especially.  We  have  no  study  of  African  elephants, 
and  so  used  Asiatic."  The  incident  caused  a  great  deal  of  amuse 
ment. 

The  Roosevelts  returned  to  Copenhagen  about  3  o'clock  and 
were  cheered  by  large  crowds.  Going  to  the  palace  the  Colonel 
devoted  two  hours  to  his  correspondence. 

A  visit  to  the  National  Museum  was  made  the  occasion  of  a 
friendly  demonstration  by  the  students  from  the  Government 
school.  The  motor  drive  was  then  continued  to  Helsingoer.  The 
Roosevelts  were  accompanied  by  a  party  which  occupied  six  more 
automobiles  and  included  Foreign  Minister  Schavenius  and  other8 
of  the  Cabinet,  the  burgomaster  of  Copenhagen  and  several  other 
prominent  personages. 

THE  VICE-ADMIRAL  TOASTS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

Vice-Admiral  De  Richelieu  presided  at  luncheon  on  the 
steamer  and  toasted  Mr.  Roosevelt.  The  ex-President  in  respond 
ing  said  that  the  only  thing  lacking  about  the  Danish- Americans 
in  America  was  that  there  was  not  enough  of  them. 

Haakon  VII,  King  of  Norway,  and  Queen  Maud  were  the 
first  to  greet  the  ex-President  on  his  arrival  in  Christiania. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  presented  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  Miss  Ethel  and 
Kermit,  and  the  party  then  proceeded  to  the  palace. 

The  streets  of  Christiana  were  bright  with  decorations,  and 
almost  every  one  was  wearing  an  American  flag.  A  Roosevelt 
march,  Roosevelt  photographs  and  compilations  of  Roosevelt's 
sayings  were  being  sold  in  the  shops  and  on  the  highways. 

In  the  evening  the  King  and  Queen  gave  a  dinner  at  the 
palace  in  honor  of  their  American  guest?.  More  than  200  of  the 
most  eminent  personages  in  Norway  were  present,  including 
the  Premier  and  Cabinet  Ministers,  the  leaders  of  the  various 
political  parties,  literary  people,  financiers  and  the  representatives 
of  the  most  distinguished  Norwegian  life.  Four  State  chairs 
were  placed  at  the  principal  table,  and  after  all  the  others  of  the 
company  were  standing  at  tkeir  places,  the  King  appeared  with 


DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR.  339 

Mrs.  Roosevelt  on  his  arm,  Colonel  Roosevelt  following  with  the 
Queen. 

When  the  dinner  had  advanced  to  the  fourth  course,  the  King 
arose,  and  all  the  guests  stood.  "  It  is  with  great  pleasure,"  said 
the  King,  "  that  I  welcome  you,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  here,  in 
the  name  of  the  Queen  and  myself,  and  extend  you  our  hospitality. 
I  do  not  speak  in  my  name  alone,  but  am  convinced  that  it  is  in  the 
name  of  all  Norwegians.  The  reception  given  you  to-day  will  con 
vince  you  of  the  truth  of  my  words.  As  you  know,  we  are  all 
grateful  that  although  your  time  is  so  limited  you  have  been  able  to 
come  to  Norway.  Many  Norwegians  live  in  America,  and  although 
American  subjects,  they  are  Norwegians  at  heart.  I  feel  it  such 
and  therefore  we  feel  particularly  pleased  to  have  this  opportunity 
of  offering  our  hospitality  to  some  eminent  American  citizen. 

THE  KING'S  RE-ASSURING  WORDS. 

"  I  express  the  hope  that  you  will  get  the  impression  during 
your  stay  in  Christiania  that  real  feelings  of  true  friendship  and 
relationship  between  the  United  States  and  Norway  exist  here,  and 
I  hope  that  these  feelings  will  continue  for  all  time.  I  drink  a  toast 
to  the  United  States  and  I  drink  a  toast  to  the  health  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Roosevelt." 

The  company  remained  standing  while  the  ex-President  re- 
ponded  as  follows :  "  It  is  a  particular  pleasure  for  me  to  be  in 
Norway,"  he  said,  "  and  I  have  been  deeply  impressed  with  my 
generous  reception.  Norwegians  have  made  such  good  citizens  in 
the  United  States  that  I  once  remarked  to  a  group  of  traveling  Nor 
wegians  that  I  rather  grudged  it  that  they  had  left  anybody  in  Nor 
way. 

"  As  your  Majesty  has  said,  the  Norwegians  in  America  love 
the  land  of  their  birth  and  they  love  the  country  of  their  adoption. 
A  man  can  love  his  wife  all  the  better  if  he  loves  his  mother  a  great 
deal." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  touched  on  Norse  literature,  and  spoke  of  his 
pleasure  when,  as  President,  he  was  able  to  cable  his  good  wishes 


340  DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR. 

to  a  new  Norwegian  King  bearing  the  old  name  of  Haakon.  "And," 
he  continued,  "  it  is  a  fine  thing  for  the  country  that  Haakon  and 
Olaf  should  be  the  names  borne  by  the  ruler  of  to-day  and  the  ruler 
of  to-morrow." 

He  turned  directly  to  the  King  and  Queen,  and  said :  "  I  hope 
that  their  Majesties,  who  seem  to  do  all  things  well,  will  see  to  it 
that  the  small  Olaf  knows  the  Heimskringla  thoroughly.  I  drink 
with  my  whole  heart  to  the  health  of  your  Majesties." 

The  King  and  Queen  showed  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  the 
little  Prince  Olaf  that  afternoon,  and  the  Colonel,  who  had  been 
telling  anecdotes  about  Seth  Bullock,  said:  I  wish  Seth  Bulloch 
was  here  to  see  your  small  Olaf ;  he  would  be  delighted  with  him." 

While  the  ex-President  was  in  his  room  arranging  his  papers 
and  dictating  letters  the  King  came  in  quite  informally  and  asked, 
"  Wouldn't  you  like  to  have  a  cup  of  tea  ?" 

THE  KING  AND  THE  COLONEL  TALK  ON  MANY  SUBJECTS. 

"  By  George,  I  would,"  replied  the  Colonel.  The  King  rang, 
and  for  more  than  an  hour  the  two  sat  drinking  tea  and  talking  on 
a  variety  of  subjects.  The  King  asked  many  questions  and  pre 
sented  many  of  his  opinions  on  matters  relative  to  the  United  States. 

The  Colonel  told  of  some  of  his  ranching  experiences  and  of 
one  effective  speech  he  had  made  in  a  western  mining  camp  against 
free  silver,  while  Seth  Bulloch  sat  on  a  platform  behind  him.  He 
spoke  for  an  hour,  and  not  a  man  interrupted  him.  Every  one  in 
the  house  seemingly  was  deeply  interested.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  speech  he  said  to  one  of  his  ranching  friends :  "  I  think  I  held 
the  audience  pretty  well." 

"  Held  the  audience  well,"  exclaimed  his  friend ;  "  Seth  Bul 
loch,  with  a  six-shooter  in  each  hip,  watching  the  crowd,  had  given 
the  tip  that  he'd  penetrate  the  first  man  who  peeped." 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  arrived  in  the  capital  in  the  afternoon  the 
platform  of  the  station  was  covered  with  red  carpet,  and  inside  the 
building  a  temporary  stand  had  been  erected  for  the  receiving  party. 
This  was  occupied  by  the  King  and  Queen,  with  a  large  suite,  all  of 


DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR.  341 

» 

the  members  of  the  Cabinet  members  of  Parliament,  city  and  state 
officials,  professors  of  the  university  and  other  distinguished  mem 
bers  of  society. 

As  the  train  drew  in  and  the  Colonel  stepped  down  his  Majesty 
crossed  the  platform  and,  without  waiting  for  an  introduction, 
shook  hands  with  the  former  President.  He  then  presented  Mr. 
Roosevelt  to  the  Queen  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  presented  Mrs.  Roosevelt, 
Miss  Ethel  and  Kermit  to  their  Majesties.  Greetings  exchanged, 
the  Queen  took  the  Colonel's  arm  and  the  King  offered  his  arm  to 
Mrs.  Roosevelt.  Followed  by  Miss  Ethel  and  Kermit,  they  walked 
through  the  royal  waiting  room,  which  was  half  filled  with  flowers 
and  flags,  to  the  carriages  which  were  in  waiting.  The  party 
drove  at  once  to  the  palace. 

After  a  brief  stop  at  the  palace  the  Roosevelts,  still  accom 
panied  by  the  King  and  Queen  and  a  few  members  of  the  royal 
household,  drove  to  the  American  Legation,  where  they  had  lunch 
eon  as  the  guests  of  American  Minister  Peirce.  The  luncheon 
was  followed  by  a  reception. 

THE   ROOSEVELTS  OCCUPY  A  SPECIAL  TRAIN. 

From  Kornsjo  to  the  capital  the  Roosevelts  occupied  a  special 
train  sent  for  them  by  the  Government.  The  train  was  in  charge  of 
Superintendent  of  State  Railways  Aas  and  his  staff,  who  are  respon 
sible  for  the  safe  movements  of  the  royal  train.  The  conductor 
wore  a  broad  leather  belt  bearing  the  arms  of  Norway.  There 
was  special  significance  in  this,  as  the  belt  is  designed  to  indicate 
that  royalty  is  traveling.  The  car  used  by  the  Roosevelts  was  that 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Norwegian  Cabinet  in  visiting  the  King 
of  Sweden. 

The  trip  through  the  southeast  corner  of  Norway  was  enlivened 
by  frequent  demonstrations.  At  every  place  along  the  route  the 
school  children  had  been  given  a  partial  holiday  in  order  that  they 
might  see  the  distinguished  American.  The  train  stopped  at  a  few 
stations  and  steamed  slowly  past  others.  In  every  instance  child 
ren  crowded  the  station  platform,  and,  waving  their  hats  and  hand- 


342  DISTINGUISHED  MARKS  OF  HONOR. 

kerchiefs,  gave  a  variety  of  school  yells.  The  Colonel  never  failed 
to  acknowledge  their  salutations.  When  his  breakfast  was  inter 
rupted  by  a  chorus  from  the  outside  he  waved  his  napkin  in  the  best 
of  good  humor. 

There  was  a  large  gathering  at  Moss,  where  a  stop  was  made. 
Boys  from  the  high  school  gave  nine  short  cheers,  which  drew  the 
Colonel  to  an  open  window  of  the  car.  "  That  sounds  like  an 
American  college  yell,"  he  said.  "  I  wish  you  and  the  grown-ups 
good  luck."  The  boys  cheered  again  as  the  train  drew  out  of  the 
station.  The  train  continued  to  Christiania  without  further  inci 
dent  of  note. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE. 

DELIVERS  ADDRESS  BEFORE  NOBEL  PRIZE  COMMITTEE  IN  CHRIS- 
TIANIA — COMPARED  TO  A  RUSHING  HUMAN  ENGINE — VISITS 
STOCKHOLM — WELCOMED  BY  ROYALTY — PAYS  TRIBUTE  TO 
KING  EDWARD. 

FEARING  no  other  nation  and  entertaining  aggressive  designs 
upon  none,  the  American  people  as  a  whole  doubtless  approve 
the  views  expressed  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  the  Norway  address  in 
which  he  urges  the  establishment  of  a  great  permanent  tribunal  of 
arbitration,  and  the  formation,  among  the  leading  civilized  coun 
tries,  of  an  enduring  league  of  peace. 

Aside  from  the  personality  of  the  speaker,  however,  their 
interest  is  largely  theoretical  and  humanitarian.  An  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  will  agree  with  him 
and  with  other  prominent  publicists  in  holding  that  the  welfare  of 
mankind  would  be  immeasurably  enhanced  if  the  expansion  of 
armaments  could  be  checked  in  pursuance  of  a  policy  looking  toward 
their  eventual  reduction  to  minor  proportions. 

Yet  while  both  this  idea  and  the  idea  of  settling  all  interna- 
vjonal  disputes  by  hearings  before  a  qualified  and  authoritative  court 
are  excellent  in  theory,  no  method  has  so  far  been  advanced  by 
which  the  closely  packed  nations  of  Europe  can  be  induced  to  forget 
their  racial,  political  and  commercial  rivalries ;  and  American  public 
opinion  is  unquestionably  in  favor  of  maintaining  an  adequate  de 
fensive  system  for  the  United  States,  remote  as  it  is  from  Europe 
and  Asia. 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  on  May  5th,  at  Christiania,  before  a  most 
distinguished  audience,  entered  upon  the  most  difficult  field  of 
European  politics  by  delivering  an  address  on  "International  Peace" 
before  the  Nobel  Prize  Committee. 

343 


344  ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE. 

The  Colonel  did  not  mince  words  and  in  the  conclusion  of  his 
carefully  worked-out  thesis,  advocated  an  international  agreement 
that  would  serve  to  check  the  growth  of  armaments,  especially  naval 
armaments,  and  the  formation  by  those  great  Powers  honestly  bent 
on  peace,  of  a  League  of  Peace,  "  not  only  to  keep  the  peace  among 
themselves,  but  to  prevent,  by  force  if  necessary,  its  being  broken  by 
others." 

On  leaving  the  palace,  which  is  situated  on  the  crest  of  a  hill 
which  ends  Christiania's  principal  thoroughfare,  for  the  theater, 
the  Colonel  viewed  a  remarkable  picture  below  him.  The  street  for 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  theater  was  packed  with  thousands  who 
were  restrained  at  the  curbs  by  soldiers. 

At  intervals  of  twenty  yards  were  standard  bearers  supporting 
silken  banners  ornamented  with  Norse  symbols  and  there  were  also 
heraldic  brass  standards,  thus  contributing  to  the  medieval  Norman 
scene,  which  was  perfect  except  for  the  modern  garb  of  the  men 
and  women,  all  of  whom  displayed  in  some  way  the  American  colors. 

SPEAKS  BEFORE  THE  NORWEGIAN  STORTHING. 

King  Haakon  and  Queen  Maud  were  present  as  well  as  all  the 
members  of  the  Government,  who  occupied  seats  on  the  stage  and 
as  well  as  the  entire  Parliamentary  body,  among  whom  was 
Miss  Rogstag,  the  first  woman  to  be  elected  to  the  Norwegian 
Storthing.  The  overture  by  the  orchestra  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  was  specially  composed  by  the  royal  bandmaster,  Johann 
Halverson,  who  dedicated  it  to  the  Colonel.  The  theme  embodied 
the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  Norse  folk  songs  and  melodies. 

What  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  to  say  before  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Norway  and  other  representative  personages  constituted  the  basis 
of  the  private  conversations  which  he  was  having  with  the  states 
men  of  Europe  as  the  occasion  arose  concerning  the  practical  possi 
bilities  of  collective  action  by  the  various  Governments  for  the  en 
forcement  of  universal  peace. 

The  Colonel  said  that  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  ever  that  the 
great  end  in  view  was  righteousness;  and  he  explained  that  peace. 


ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE.  345 

generally  good  in  itself,  was  never  the  highest  good  unless  it  came 
as  the  handmaid  of  righteousness.  It  became  a  very  evil  thing 
when  it  served  merely  as  a  mask  for  cowardice  and  sloth  or  as  an 
instrument  to  further  the  ends  of  despotism  or  anarchy. 

It  was  the  Nobel  Prize  Committee,  the  members  of  which  are 
elected  by  the  Norwegian  Storthing,  that  in  1906  conferred  upon  the 
then  President  of  the  United  States  its  medal  and  money  award  in 
recognition  of  his  services  in  bringing  to  a  conclusion  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war. 

The  occasion  was  the  feature  of  Colonel  Roosevelt's  visit  to 
Norway  and  one  of  the  most  notable  of  his  European  tour. 

ADDRESS   RECEIVED   CORDIALLY. 

The  Colonel's  discourse  was  made  with  something  of  the 
solemnity  of  a  religious  service  in  the  largest  auditorium  of  Chris- 
tiania,  the  National  Theater,  and  in  the  presence  of  King  Haakon, 
Queen  Maud,  members  of  the  cabinet  and  of  Parliament,  and  hund 
reds  of  the  most  progressive  and  influential  personalities  of  the 
kingdom. 

The  address  was  received  cordially  and  at  its  conclusion  John 
Lund,  vice-president  of  the  Nobel  Prize  Committee,  paid  a  tribute 
to  the  speaker  and  to  the  country  from  which  he  came.  After  re 
ferring  to  Norway's  interest  in  America  and  American  affairs  Mr. 
Lund  said : 

"  But  it  is  not  Norway  alone,  but  the  entire  civilized  world 
which  has  reason  to  be  grateful  to  the  United  States.  Millions 
upon  millions  from  Europe,  poor  and  often  down-trodden,  but  cap 
able,  have  found  in  the  new  world  that  happiness  and  prosperity 
which  the  old  world  was  unable  to  afford  them. 

"  In  many  ways  the  United  States  has  reached  the  goal  for 
which  Europe  is  still  sighing.  There  all  peoples,  all  races  and  all 
religions  can  unite  peacefully  in  mutual  industry  under  a  common 
flag.  Many  ideals  for  which  Europe  has  striven  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  have  been  grasped  by  the  youngest  continent  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  hundred  years." 


346  ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE. 

Mr.  Lund  praised  many  features  of  American  life,  citing  its 
industry,  agricultural  development,  school  systems  and  dwelt  upon 
the  position  of  the  American  woman  and  the  popular  respect  for  the 
worker.  Addressing  the  Colonel  he  said: 

"  Your  journey  through  the  old  world,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  has  been 
a  triumphal  procession.  Everywhere  fathers  have  taken  pleasure 
and  pride  in  bidding  welcome  to  so  worthy  a  representative  of  their 
sons  yonder  in  the  West." 

The  speaker  reviewed  the  Colonel's  activities  in  behalf  of  peace, 
referring  especially  to  his  share  in  the  conclusion  of  peace  between 
Russia  and  Japan,  and  added : 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  future  will  still  afford  you  opportuni 
ties  for  adding  to  your  splendid  achievements.  Long  live  Theodore 
Roosevelt." 

SUMMARY  OF  ROOSEVELT'S  IDEAS  OF  PEACE. 

(  We  should  form  a  League  of  Peace  not  only  to  keep  the  peace 
among  ourselves,  but  to  prevent,  by  force,  if  necessary,  its  being 
broken  by  others. 

"  There  should  be  an  international  agreement  to  check  the 
growth  of  armaments. 

"  Peace  becomes  an  evil  thing  when  it  serves  merely  to  mask 
cowardice  and  sloth  or  as  an  instrument  to  further  the  ends  of 
despotism  or  anarchy. 

"  No  man  is  worth  calling  a  man  who  will  not  fight  rather  than 
submit  to  infamy  or  see  those  that  are  dear  to  him  suffer  wrong. 
This  principle  applies  to  all  nations. 

"  Civilized  nations  should  have  effective  arbitration  treaties. 

'  There  is  as  much  need  to  curb  the  cruel  greed  and  arrogance 
of  part  of  the  world  of  capital,  to  curb  the  cruel  greed  and  violence 
of  part  of  the  world  of  labor,  as  to  check  the  cruel  and  unhealthy 
militarism  in  international  relationship. 

"  Peace  is  never  the  highest  good  unless  it  comes  as  the  hand 
maid  of  righteousness. 

"  I  ask  other  nations  to  do  only  what  I  should  be  glad  to  see 
my  own  nation  do." 


ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE.  347 

On  May  6  King,  Frederick's  university  conferred  upon  Colonel 
Roosevelt  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy.  It  was  the  third 
time  in  a  century  that  the  degree  had  been  given  a  foreigner. 

The  exercises  occurred  in  the  amphitheater  of  the  university. 
King  Haakon  entered  with  the  Colonel  at  his  right  and  faced  a 
notable  assemblage,  including  the  premier  and  other  members  of  the 
cabinet,  the  Nobel  Prize  Committee,  the  diplomatic  corps,  the  faculty 
of  the  university  and  many  persons  distinguished  in  civil  life. 

ROOSEVELT  A  RUSHING  HUMAN   ENGINE,  SAYS  THE  DEAN. 

The  dean  of  the  faculty  of  history  and  philosophy  made  an 
address  in  which  he  said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  already  left  the 
earth  and  was  residing  on  Olympus  with  Jupiter  and  Apollo,  and 
that  it  was  scarcely  kind  to  drag  him  down  among  the  mortals. 

He  likened  Colonel  Roosevelt  to  a  rushing  human  engine,  diffi 
cult  to  follow  and  making  it  difficult  amid  the  clouds  of  smoke  to 
discern  precisely  the  manner  of  man  he  was.  Some  saw  a  winged 
angel  and  others  a  modern  devil  with  claws. 

In  sketching  Colonel  Roosevelt's  career  he  found  the  "  winning 
of  the  west  "  his  most  instructive  work.  He  agreed  with  others  that 
Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  man  who  had  learned  to  use  the  capacities 
and  powers  which,  in  most  men,  lie  dormant,  He  had  converted 
his  capacities  into  energies. 

In  reply,  the  Colonel  said  that  it  did  not  make  much  difference 
what  capacities  a  man  had.  It  was  important  rather  what  he  did 
with  them.  The  thing  was  to  get  the  job  done.  The  king  laughed 
when  the  Colonel  said : 

"If  recognition  comes  for  what  you  do,  good;  if  recognition 
does  not  come  " — here  the  speaker  paused — "  it  isn't  quite  so  good." 

King  Haakon  and  the  Colonel  spent  a  part  of  the  morning 
talking  before  an  open  fire  in  the  palace,  while  the  rain  fell  and  a 
cold  wind  blew  outside. 

The  Colonel's  first  forenoon  engagement  was  with  a  throat 
specialist,  who  sprayed  the  overtaxed  organs  that  all  but  failed  the 
former  President  the  day  before,  and  prescribed  further  treatment. 


348  ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE. 

The  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  spent  the  afternoon  driving 
about  the  capital  with  the  king  and  queen,  who  later  accompanied 
them  to  the  railway  station,  where  they  took  a  special  train  for 
Stockholm.  The  Roosevelts  were  cheered  by  a  crowd  at  the  station 
as  they  left. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  and  his  family  arrived  in  Stockholm  the 
following  day,  and  were  received  at  the  railway  station  by  Price 
Wilhelm,  who  drove  with  them  to  the  palace,  where  they  became 
the  guests  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  in  the  absence  of  King  Gustave 
V.,  who  was  in  the  South  of  France.  United  States  Minister 
Graves,  the  staff  of  the  American  Legation,  the  Premier  and  other 
members  of  the  Swedish  Cabinet  were  also  at  the  station  to  receive 
the  American  guests.  An  immense  crowd  surrounded  the  receiving 
party  and  cheered  as  the  train  drew  in.  A  choir  stationed  on  the 
platform  sang,  "  My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,"  and  the  Swedish  na 
tional  anthem. 

ENTERTAINED  BY  THE  CROWN  PRINCE  AND  PRINCESS. 

Colonel  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  spent  a  comparatively  quiet  day  in 
the  company  of  the  Crown  Prince  and  Princess.  The  Prince  -and 
Princess  accompanied  them  in  the  afternoon  to  the  northern 
museum,  the  biological  museum  and  the  open-air  museum,  after 
which  the  party  had  luncheon  at  the  palace.  Colonel  Roosevelt  also 
was  shown  a  horse-jumping  military  drill. 

Commenting  on  the  death  of  King  Edward,  Colonel  Roosevelt 
issued  the  following  statement :  "  I  am  deeply  grieved,  and  know 
that  all  Americans  will  be  deeply  grieved,  at  the  death  of  his  ma 
jesty  King  Edward  VII.  We  feel  the  most  profound  sympathy 
for  the  British  people  in  their  loss.  We  in  America  keenly  appre 
ciated  King  Edward's  personal  good  will  toward  us,  which  he  so 
frequently  and  so  markedly  showed. 

'  We  are  well  aware,  also,  of  the  devotion  felt  toward  him  by 
his  subjects  throughout  the  British  empire,  while  all  foreign  nations 
had  learned  to  see  in  the  king  a  ruler  whose  great  abilities,  especially 
his  tact,  judgment  and  the  unfailing  kindness  of  his  nature,  rendered 
him  peculiarly  fit  to  work  for  international  peace  and  justice. 


ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD   PEACE.  349 

"  Let  me  repeat  that  I  am  sure  all  American  people  feel  at  this 
time  the  deepest  and  most  sincere  sympathy  for  his  family  and  the 
English  nation."  In  addition  to  this,  Colonel  Roosevelt  sent  a  per 
sonal  message  to  the  widowed  queen. 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  in  speaking  of  the  late  King's  tact,  the 
Colonel  gave  an  illustration  of  what  he  termed  the  finer  sense  of 
things  which  the  King  possessed.  "  Next  to  the  ring  John  Hay 
gave  me,"  said  he,  "  I.  value  the  miniature  of  John  Hampden  King 
Edward  sent  me,  after  I  became  President.  That  was  a  present  a 
sovereign  could  make  with  dignity  and  one  a  democratic  President 
could  accept.  All  historians  and  royalists  agree  that  Hampden 
was  a  good  man.  The  King  must  have  known  that  Hampden  was 
one  of  my  four  heroes — Timoleon,  Hampden,  Washington  and  Lin 
coln.  Such  a  selection  as  the  miniature  showed  extreme  tact. 

SILENT  TOAST  TO  KING  EDWARD'S  MEMORY. 

"  I  have  a  personal  feeling  about  the  King's  death.  I  know 
from  having  been  President  that  he  had  an  earnest  desire  to  keep 
the  relations  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  on  the 
closest  and  most  friendly  terms.  King  Edward's  death  removes  one 
influence  that  tended  strongly  for  peace  and  justice  in  international 
relations.  His  own  people  and  other  lands  must  feel  that  loss." 

At  a  citizens'  brilliant  banquet  that  night  where  were  assembled 
the  members  of  Sweden's  parliament,  the  highest  officials  of  Stock 
holm  and  society  representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  Kingdom  Mr. 
Roosevelt  proposed  a  silent  toast  to  King  Edward's  memory,  pre 
faced  by  the  following  sympathetic  remarks : 

"  I  came  here  at  a  time  when  a  great  friendly  nation  is  bowed 
in  grief  over  the  loss  of  her  sovereign.  Britons  mourn  a  wise, 
generous  ruler  whose  sole  thought  was  for  the  welfare  of  his  people. 
All  nations  join  in  mourning  the  man  whose  voice  was  always  raised 
for  justice  and  peace  among  nations.  So  I  propose  our  great  sym 
pathy  and  sorrow  for  the  King  who  is  dead  and  good  wishes  for 
him  who  takes  the  throne.  I  propose  a  silent  toast  to  Britons  in 
their  hour  of  sorrow  and  trouble." 


350  ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE. 

In  a  laudatory  speech  at  this  dinner  Premier  Lindman  said: 
"  We  are  glad  to  welcome  the  foremost  citizen  of  the  great  republic, 
to  which  Sweden  has  sent  so  many  loyal  citizens." 

After  referring  to  the  former  President's  efforts  towards  world 
peace  and  the  conservation  of  natural  resources,  as  well  as  his  endea 
vor  morally  to  uplift  his  fellow  countrymen,  the  Premier  continued  : 

"  Your  motto,  Colonel  Roosevelt,  has  been  honesty,  justice  and 
good  character  in  every  citizen.  You  have  sought  to  promote  self- 
reliance  and  foster  such  a  spirit  in  the  nation  that  the  stronger  would 
help  the  weaker,  when  the  weaker  was  in  need  and  deserved  it,  and 
the  manner  in  which  you  have  worked  to  those  ends  has  made  your 
name  respected  and  honored  throughout  the  world." 

In  his  toast  to  the  former  President,  Premier  Lindman  coupled 
Mrs.  Roosevelt's  name  with  the  Colonel's,  as  a  true  wife  who  had 
contributed  to  her  husband's  success  at  every  step. 

COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  OBLIGED  TO  REMAIN  INDOORS. 

The  weather  at  Stockholm  on  May  8,  was  rainy  and  blustry, 
and  as  the  physician  declared  that  exposure  under  such  conditions 
would  be  bad  for  Mr.  Roosevelt's  bronchial  tubes,  which  were 
slightly  inflamed,  he  was  obliged  to  remain  indoors  most  of  the  time. 

The  Colonel  only  left  his  apartments  once.  He  took  lunch  with 
Charles  H.  Graves,  the  American  Minister  to  Sweden,  at  the  Lega 
tion,  and  there  met  Sven  Hedin,  the  explorer ;  Dr.  Nordensksjold, 
the  Antarctic  explorer ;  Admiral  Palander  Prof.  Arrehenius,  who  is 
connected  with  the  Nobel  Institute,  and  other  scientific  and  literary 
people.  He  intended  to  make  a  speech  at  the  National  Museum 
before  the  students  and  massed  singing  societies,  but  gave  this  up 
and  instead  bowed  from  the  balcony  of  the  legation  to  the  students 
and  singers,  who  gathered  in  the  street  below  and  sang  selections. 

The  combined  choruses  rendered  Swedish  songs  and  the  "  Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  singing  Colonel 
Roosevelt  expressed  his  thanks.  The  crowds  on  both  sides  of  the 
water  front  facing  the  legation  were  estimated  at  between  30,000 
and  40,000,  the  greatest  crowd,  Minister  Graves  said,  he  had  ever 

H.B.G.— 32 


ROOSEVELT  FOR  WORLD  PEACE.  351 

seen  in  Stockholm.  The  roofs  of  the  houses  and  the  shipping  in  the 
harbor  were  crowded  and  a  mighty  shout  went  up  when  the  Colonel 
appeared. 

Later  he  received  in  the  legation  the  Swedish  members  of  the 
Interparliamentary  Union.  Senator  Beckman,  addressing  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  referred  to  his  services  to  the  cause  of  peace,  and  the 
former  President  replied  very  briefly.  Prof.  Gunnar  Anderson 
presented  to  him  the  first  copy,  just  from  the  press,  of  the  Norwegian 
Geological  Survey,  which  had  been  specially  bound. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  for  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  go  to  the 
Riddarholmen,  to  place  a  wreath  on  King  Oscar's  tomb,  but  he  sent 
Kermit  in  his  place,  the  wreath  being  composed  of  palms  and  lilies 
and  bearing  no  inscription. 

The  Crown  Prince  spent  some  time  in  the  Colonel's  room  in  the 
forenoon  and  had  tea  with  him  in  the  afternoon,  at  which  also  the 
Crown  Princess  and  other  members  of  the  royal  family  were  present. 

After  luncheon  at  the  legation  there  was  an  exchange  of  stories, 
the  Colonel  being  deeply  interested  in  the  experiences  of  Sven  Hedin 
in  Thibet. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  left  for  Berlin  on  a  special  train  at  1 1  o'clock 
the  next  morning.  He  was  feeling  well  and  in  a  joking  mood  con 
sidered  himself  altogether  equal  to  the  visit  to  Germany. 

A  heavy  downpour  of  rain  drove  from  the  streets  the  crowds 
that  had  assembled  to  witness  the  departure  of  the  Roosevelts,  but 
the  railway  station  was  occupied  to  its  capacity.  Among  the  num 
ber  who  were  on  hand  to  say  good-bye  were  Crown  Prince  Olaf, 
Premier  Konow  and  others  of  the  Swedish  Cabinet,  Mr.  Graves,  the 
American  Minister,  and  Mr.  Winslow,  American  Consul-General, 
with  the  legation  and  consular  staffs,  and  many  high  officials  of  the 
government  and  city. 

As  the  train  drew  out  of  the  station  a  cheer  was  given.  Im 
mediately  after  the  Stars  and  Stripes  which  had  floated  from  many 
buildings  during  Colonel  Roosevelt's  stay,  were  hauled  down  and  the 
Swedish  national  colors  were  placed  at  half  staff  for  King  Edward. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

EMPEROR  WILLIAM  EXTENDS  A  CORDIAL  WELCOME:  AT  THE  NEW 
PALACE  AT  POTTSDAM — RUN  PARALLEL  COURSES — FIRST 
CIVILIAN  EVER  TO  REVIEW  SOLDIERS  OF  IMPERIAL  GERMANY 
ARMY — SEES  BIG  SHAM  BATTLE — ACCLAIMED  AS  "  ROUGH 
RIDER" — LECTURES  BEFORE  UNIVERSITY  OF  BERLIN  ON  THE 
WORLD  MOVEMENT — EMPEROR  PAYS  HIGH  HONOR  AT  CON 
FERRING  OF  DEGREE — DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 

*T*HEODORE  ROOSEVELT  had  the  world  for  an  audience. 
His  two  speeches  at  Paris  and  Berlin  received  such  universal 
attention  and  comment  as  no  man  in  this  day  and  generation  has 
won  before.  These  discourses  are  level  to  the  comprehension  and 
conviction  of  the  vast  mass.  Platitudes  they  may  hold,  but  plati 
tudes  well  expressed,  are  the  mental  food  of  the  multitude. 

At  Berlin  he  precisely  expressed  the  profound  belief  of  men 
and  women  as  to  modern  civilization.  They  see  its  advance.  They 
know  its  perils.  They  desire  a  remedy. 

The  "  fighting  edge  "  gives  it  to  them,  and  expresses  what 
most  believe  and  desire  to  practice.  Colonel  Roosevelt's  advice, 
assertion  and  attitude  irritate  many  cultivated,  educated,  wide- 
horizoned  men.  They  hate  to  be  reminded  that  there  are  evils. 
They  abhor  the  preaching  of  homely  duty.  Provision  for  a  family, 
the  daily  virtues,  personal  self-sacrifice,  protest  against  the  ease, 
comfort  and  advantage  which  sap  national  strength,  are  not  to  the 
taste  of  those  who  win  life's  worldly  prizes. 

But  the  multitude  hear  this  gladly.  They  love  it.  They  fol 
low  it.  The  two  speeches  Theodore  Roosevelt  has  made  have 
"  immensely  " — to  quote  his  favorite  word — increased  his  grip  on 
the  plain  people.  His  doctrine  is  their  doctrine.  His  preaching  is 
their  creed. 

352 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  353 

The  "  fighting  edge  " — a  phrase  likely  to  live — the  mass  be 
lieves  in  as  much  as  it  cherishes  the  daily  duties.  The  instinctive 
difference  between  modern  civilization  and  old  is  that  the  old  was 
not  aware  of  its  peril  and  the  new  civilization  is  awake  to  it.  Rome 
felt  secure  until  Alaric  was  at  the  gates.  Modern  civilization  is 
astir  with  alarm. 

When  Theodore  Roosevelt  urges  and  exhorts  to  the  life  of 
active  readiness  for  conflict  he  would  be  but  a  voice  poured  on  the 
free  winds  far,  were  it  not  that  this  doctrine  is  in  all  the  air.  Look 
at  the  prodigious  pains  and  effort  in  the  past  thirty  years  to  main 
tain  physical  stamina.  Playgrounds  and  gymnasiums,  the  sports 
which  fill  newspapers  by  the  page,  college  athletics  and  personal 
exercise,  attention  to  hygiene  and  struggles  with  disease,  universal 
interest  in  physical  records,  games,  drills,  new  appliances  and  ap 
paratus,  the  world-wide  attention  to  matches  and  competitive  events, 
all  bespeak  the  same  anxious  desire  to  keep  up  the  "  fighting  edge." 

COMPULSORY  MILITARY  SERVICE  APPROVED. 

Armies  are  being  remodeled.  Navies  are  rebuilt.  The  train 
ing  of  soldiers  and  sailors  is  more  severe  than  ever  before.  Lands 
like  Australia  are  drilling  every  school  boy.  Compulsory  military 
service,  once  condemned,  is  approved.  The  national  army  is  lauded 
in  England  as  a  national  school,  and  in  this  country  there  never  was 
so  much  effort  to  maintain  a  high  physical  type. 

This  is  universal.  It  exists  everywhere.  When  Colonel 
Roosevelt  urges  it  he  but  sums  the  universal  practice.  The  civilized 
world  grows  physically  stronger  every  decade.  The  one  need  is 
that  all  this  shall  bring  a  moral  ardor  in  the  attack  on  wrong  and 
misdoing.  Grave  danger  exists  in  every  civilization  and  every  city 
that  men  will  accept  evil  and  condone  wrong,  let  thieving  continue 
and  corrupt  profits  swell  while  the  vast  mass  acquiesces. 

The  tendency  of  the  past  and  present  in  law  and  government  is 
towards  centralization.  The  homogeneousness  of  nations  has  been 
more  firmly  established,  the  law  codes  of  different  countries  more 
closely  assimilated,  the  methods  of  war  and  peace  in  all  nations  are 


364  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

following  the  same  general  development  toward  a  common  standard 
and  the  peoples  of  the  world,  although  differing  in  language,  blood 
and  history,  are  drawing  near  to  what  the  great  poet  called  the 
"  federation  of  the  world." 

The  career  of  ex-President  Roosevelt  is  the  pride  of  all  ad 
mirers  of  robust,  courageous  personality.  Edward  VII  claimed 
allegiance  and  honor  from  all  mankind  who  knew  his  worth  and 
public  service,  irrespective  of  national  limits.  The  leaders  in  litera 
ture,  art  and  science  contribute  to  the  heritage  of  the  world,  not  of 
any  nation. 

Linguists  are  seeking  a  common  language  for  international 
use  and  a  destructive  earthquake  involving  loss  of  life  and  property, 
whether  at  Messina  or  San  Francisco,  awakens  the  sympathy  and 
opens  the  purse  of  all  civilization.  The  telegraph  obliterates  time 
and  distance  and  nations  are  linked  together  as  never  before. 

A  WORLD'S  TRIBUNAL. 

This  admitted  tendency  to  unification  in  progress  and  senti 
ment  emphasizes  the  question  why  in  the  matter  of  international 
jurisprudence  the  nations  cannot  come  to  some  understanding  by 
which  the  dread  perils  of  war  may  be  relegated  to  the  past  with  the 
horrors  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  barbarities  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

As  States  in  our  own  nation  have  their  Courts  for  the  adjust 
ment  of  disputes,  when  dissatisfaction  arises  with  the  decision  of 
the  State  Courts  or  the  case  is  beyond  their  jurisdiction,  an  appeal 
to  the  National  Supreme  Court  effectually  settles  the  question  and 
the  decision  is  binding  on  all  the  parties  in  interest;  so  might  the 
nations,  when  differences  arise,  appeal  their  cases  to  a  high  inter 
national  tribunal,  whose  edict  should  be  final. 

This  Court  composed  of  honorable  and  able  representatives 
from  every  leading  nation  could  properly  solve  the  problems  that 
arise  between  nations  by  carefully  weighing  the  evidence  and  the 
equities  of  the  cases  and,  backed  by  the  united  powers  of  the  nations 
represented,  enforce  its  just  decrees. 

This  is  no  fancy  picture,  being  already  presaged  by  The  Hague 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  355 

conference  and  able,  wise  and  diplomatic  statesmen  could  readily 
formulate  such  a  plan  on  practical  lines  and  in  intent  and  purpose 
the  poet's  dream  would  be  realized. 

"  Till  the  war  drum  throbbed  no  longer  and  the  battle  flags  were  furled 
In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world, 
There  the  common  sense  of  most  shall  hold  a  fretful  realm  in  awe 
And  the  kindly  earth  shall  slumber,  lapt  in  universal  law." 

Greek  met  Greek  when  the  Kaiser  and  Colonel  Roosevelt 
clasped  hands  on  the  marble  steps  of  Frederick  the  Great's  historic 
New  Palace  at  Potsdam.  The  meeting  between  the  world's  two 
chief  exponents  of  the  strenuous  life  was  cordial  and  friendly  in 
the  extreme.  Clad  in  a  picturesque  white  uniform  of  the  Garde  du 
Corps,  with  a  helmet  surmounted  by  a  shimmering  silver  eagle,  the 
Kaiser  looked  every  inch  the  War  Lord  immortalized  by  myriad 
photographs  as  he  and  the  Colonel  stood  shaking  hands  vigorously 
and  enthusiastically  for  almost  a  full  minute. 

AN  ENTHUSIASTIC  GREETING  BY  THE  EMPEROR. 

His  Majesty  generously  exceeded  conventional  requirements  by 
waiting  for  his  guest's  approach  at  the  outdoor  steps  instead  of  re 
maining  within.  As  the  result  of  scrupulously  secret  preparations, 
the  complete  details  of  the  long  waited  for  event  perhaps  will  be 
never  known,  even  the  services  of  a  master  of  ceremonies  to  make 
the  presentation  being  dispensed  with,  so  none  can  repeat  the  exact 
language  of  the  greeting. 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  who  arrived  in  Berlin  on  May  10,  and  spent 
the  forenoon  at  the  American  Embassy,  was  escorted  to  Potsdam 
by  General  Alfred  von  Loewenfeld,  the  personal  representative  of 
the  Emperor. 

The  Colonel  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  Miss  Roose 
velt  and  Kermit;  Mr.  Hill  and  Mrs.  Hill;  Captain  Samuel  G. 
Shartle,  the  military  attache,  and  Lt.  Commander  Reginald  R. 
Belknap,  the  naval  attache  of  the  American  Embassy. 

As  their  carriages  drove  into  the  courtyard  Emperor  Wiliam 


356  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

appeared  at  the  principal  entrance  of  the  new  palace  and  descended 
to  meet  his  guests. 

Preceded  by  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  Count  Zu  Eulenberg,  and 
Master  of  the  Imperial  Household,  Baron  Von  Lyncker,  the  Em 
peror,  with  Colonel  Roosevelt  at  his  right,  entered  the  palace,  and, 
passing  through  the  large  apartment  popularly  known  as  the  shell 
room,  showed  his  guests  into  the  smaller  salon  beyond. 

Mrs.  Roosevelt  entered  on  the  arm  of  General  Von  Loewenf  eld, 
and  in  turn  was  followed  by  Ambassador  and  Mrs.  Hill,  Miss 
Roosevelt  and  Kermit,  Captain  Shartle  and  Lieutenant-Commander 
Belknap  and  Dr.  Von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  the  Imperial  Chancellor, 
with  Prince  Solms-Bareuth. 

Within  the  salon  the  party  was  received  by  Empress  Augusta 
Victoria,  Crown  Prince  Frederick  William,  Crown  Princess  Cecilie, 
Princess  Victoria  Louise,  Prince  Joachim  and  Prince  Oscar. 

ENTERTAINED  BY  THE  EMPEROR  AND  EMPRESS. 

The  luncheon  that  followed  was  attended  by  a  large  number, 
including  many  government  officials  and  others  prominent  in  public 
life.  There  were  six  tables. 

At  one  of  these  were  seated  the  Emperor,  with  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
at  his  left  and  the  Crown  Princess  on  his  right;  the  Chancellor, 
General  Von  Plessin,  Kermit  Roosevelt,  Count  Zu  Eulenberg,  Mr. 
Hill,  General  Loomenfeld  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Belknap. 

At  another  table  the  Empress  was  seated  between  Mr.  Roose 
velt  and  the  Crown  Prince.  The  young  Princess  Victoria  was 
seated  at  the  Colonel's  left.  Others  at  this  table  were  Miss  Roose 
velt,  Captain  Shartle,  Foreign  Minister  Von  Schoen;  Mrs.  Hill, 
Prince  Solms-Bareuth  and  the  Countess  Keller. 

When  the  luncheon  was  over  the  Kaiser  took  possession  of  the 
Colonel,  and,  piloting  him  into  a  corner,  engaged  him  immediately 
in  the  most  animated  conversation.  History  probably  will  be  de 
prived  of  knowledge  of  what  was  talked  about,  but  whatever  it  was 
both  the  Emperor  and  the  Colonel  resorted  frequently  to  gestures 
with  arms,  fists  and  heads  to  drive  home  their  meaning  and  empha 
size  their  points. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  357 

Then  the  Emperor  motored  with  the  Roosevelt  family  to  the 
Sans  Souci  Palace  for  a  look  at  the  royal  residence,  hallowed  with 
memories  of  Frederick  the  Great.  The  Colonel  recalled  the  claims 
of  the  Kaiser's  great  warrior  ancestor  to  American  interest,  how 
Frederick  forbade  England's  hired  Hessian  troops  to  cross  Prus 
sian  soil  and  his  profound  admiration  for  Washington.  Then, 
after  a  visit,  which  had  lasted  from  one  o'clock  till  five,  the  Roose- 
velts  motored  back  to  the  American  Embassy  in  Berlin  in  one  of 
the  imperial  automobiles. 

Whether  it  was  due  to  his  elocutionary  contest  with  the  Kaiser 
or  to  the  raw,  rainy  weather  which  prevailed  in  Berlin  throughout 
the  day,  the  Colonel  reached  the  Embassy  considerably  hoarser  than 
when  he  arrived  in  Berlin  early  in  the  forenoon.  His  throat  was 
so  sore  he  found  it  difficult  to  speak  with  any  trace  of  freedom  or 
good  humor  to  Commander  Peary,  who  was  awaiting  the  ex-Presi 
dent,  the  explorer  having  delayed  his  departure  for  Rome  two  days 
for  the  purpose  of  greeting  the  Colonel. 

ROOSEVELT  AND  KAISER  RUN  PARALLEL  COURSES. 

On  his  return  to  the  Embassy  the  Colonel  submitted  to  an 
examination  at  the  hands  of  Professor  Fraenkel,  one  of  Germany's 
most  celebrated  throat  specialists.  Doctor  Fraenkel  found  him 
suffering  from  an  acute  case  of  laryngitis,  an  after  effect  of  bron 
chitis,  of  such  a  type  as  commonly  attacks  persons  who  have  dwelt 
some  time  in  the  tropics. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  and  the  German  Emperor  are  the  same 
age — fifty-one — and  both  were  born  on  the  2/th  of  the  month; 
Roosevelt  in  October,  1858,  and  the  Emperor  in  the  following  Jan 
uary. 

Both  were  married  on  the  27th  of  the  month,  the  Colonel  in 
October  1880,  and  the  Emperor  in  the  following  February.  As 
boys  each  is  said  to  have  had  the  same  favorite  author — James 
Fenimore  Cooper. 

In  their  fondness  for  out-door  sports  the  Colonel  and  the 
Kaiser  display  similarities.  Both  are  fond  of  riding  and  hunting 
and  they  each  play  tennis  cleverly,  and,  although  Roosevelt  has  the 


368  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

advantage  of  greater  experience,  the  Kaiser  would  give  him  a  good 
run  at  his  favorite  game. 

Both  know  the  technical  points  of  a  warship  from  keel  to  mast- 
top,  and  both  agree  that  the  best  thing  for  the  inside  of  a  man  is 
the  outside  of  a  horse.  Both  believe  in  the  "  simple  life."  Both 
are  family  men.  The  Kaiser  is  the  father  of  seven  children  and 
the  Colonel  of  six. 

For  five  hours  on  May  n,  the  flower  of  the  Kaiser's  army, 
12,000  cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry,  of  the  guard,  waged  mimic 
war  for  the  edification  of  Colonel  Roosevelt.  The  battle  raged  with 
realistic  fury  from  nine  in  the  morning  until  two  in  the  afternoon, 
and  while  the  countryside  reverberated  with  the  roar  of  artillery 
and  the  crackle  of  rifle  fire  the  man  of  San  Juan  and  the  German 
War  Lord  surveyed  the  thrilling  panorama  on  horseback  from  an 
eminence  which  commanded  the  entire  position. 

THE  COLONEL   DELIGHTED  WITH  THE   MANOEUVERS. 

The  two  men  were  scarcely  ten  feet  apart  at  any  time  during 
the  manoeuvers  and  they  chatted  as  excitedly  as  boys. 

The  Kaiser  seemed  proud  to  show  the  efficiency  of  the  various 
branches  of  his  army,  his  only  disappointment  being  the  failure  of 
the  balloon  corps  aboard  the  military  dirigible  Gross  III  to  appear. 
The  balloon  ascended  from  its  headquarters  at  Tegel,  but  a  fierce 
gale  forced  the  crew  to  abandon  the  flight  to  Doeberitz. 

It  was  a  spectacle  which  kept  the  Rough  Rider's  blood  tingling 
from  start  to  finish.  No  single  item  in  his  long  programme  of 
African  and  European  honors  had  made  a  stronger  appeal  to  his 
imagination. 

The  Colonel  donned  an  American  campaigning  outfit  for  the 
occasion,  khaki  jacket  and  riding  breeches,  with  tan  leggings  and 
boots  and  his  familiar  black  slouch  hat,  "  our  national  headgear," 
as  he  described  it.  One  of  the  Emperor's  automobiles  called  for 
him  at  the  Embassy  at  seven  o'clock.  Professor  Fraenkel  had  taken 
a  look  down  the  Colonel's  throat  before  breakfast  and  found  his 
laryngitis  had  receded  sufficiently  to  permit  him  to  take  the  field 
without  danger.  The  weather,  moreover,  had  turned  gloriously 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  869 

fine  during  the  night,  and  the  morning  was  like  summer  at  Oyster 
Bay. 

The  Colonel  was  accompanied  to  the  battleground  to  Doeberitz, 
midway  between  Berlin  and  Potsdam,  by  his  German  aide  de  camp, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Von  Koerner;  ex- Ambassador  Henry  White, 
the  American  Military  Attache  in  Berlin,  Captain  Shartle,  and 
Kermit. 

Diplomatic  circles  were  amazed  at  the  unyielding  determina 
tion  of  the  Kaiser  to  furnish  a  great  military  spectacle  for  the 
Colonel.  Diplomats  absolved  Colonel  Roosevelt  completely  for  any 
consequences  which  may  ensue  because  he  is  on  record  as  having 
given  the  Kaiser  ample  opportunity  to  cancel  his  Berlin  visit.  The 
party  reached  the  field  a  little  before  eight  o'clock  and  mounted 
chargers  specially  selected  from  the  Kaiser's  stables. 

HORSES  FROM  THE  KAISER'S  STABLES. 

The  Emperor  was  already  on  hand,  mounted  and  in  the  uni 
form  of  a  general  of  infantry,  with  a  large  band  of  crepe  on  the  left 
arm  of  his  overcoat.  With  him,  also  on  horseback,  were  the  Em 
press,  the  Crown  Prince  and  Crown  Princess,  Princess  Eitel  Fred- 
erich,  Princess  Victoria  Louise  and  the  Kaiser's  son,  Prince  Adel- 
bert.  As  soon  as  the  Emperor's  party  had  exchanged  greetings 
with  the  Colonel  the  Kaiser  and  the  ex-President  rode  off  to  Mill 
Hill,  from  which  they  were  to  watch  the  day's  operations. 

The  Kaiser's  face  glowed  with  pride  as  he  watched  his  two 
sons,  one  a  major  of  an  infantry  regiment,  assigned  to  the  attacking 
force,  the  other,  Eitel  Frederick,  leading  the  cavalry  in  the  defense, 
pitted  against  each  other  in  a  thrilling  conflict  held  solely  for  the 
Colonel's  delectation. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  battle  was  in  full  swing.  Two  hours  later 
the  engagement  became  general.  The  theoretical  objective  was  the 
repulse  of  the  hostile  forces  advancing  on  Potsdam  from  the  east. 
The  operations  covered  an  area  of  nine  square  miles  of  territory, 
ideally  suited  for  the  most  varied  sort  of  tactics. 

At  noonday  the  heavens  were  rumbling  with  the  roar  of  long 
range  artillery  and  the  barks  of  the  machine  guns  and  musketry. 


360  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

The  Colonel  was  enthralled.  His  field  glasses  raked  the  horizon 
restlessly,  and  as  the  invading  cavalry,  with  3000  lances  glinting 
brilliantly  in  the  midday  sun,  drove  home  the  final  attack  through 
the  jaws  of  the  defenders'  artillery,  the  commander  of  the  Rough 
Riders  shouted  his  joy  in  staccato  outbursts  to  his  proud  and 
smiling  Imperial  host. 

Other  features  of  the  manoeuvers  that  greatly  interested  the 
Colonel  and  which  the  Kaiser  explained  to  him  in  detail  were  the 
work  of  the  telegraph,  telephone  and  other  technical  branches.  The 
Kaiser's  intimate  knowledge  of  every  phase  of  army  work  was  a 
surprise  to  the  Colonel,  despite  the  Kaiser's  reputation  for  being  a 
close  student  of  military  questions. 

At  two  o'clock  the  "  Cease  fire  "  was  sounded  and  then  the 
troops  of  both  armies  joined  in  the  march  past  the  Emperor  and  the 
Colonel,  the  latter  doffing  his  black  sombrero  in  salute  as  each  set  of 
regimental  colors  filed  by. 

"MEIN  FREUND  ROOSEVELT." 

When  the  march  was  over  the  Kaiser,  surrounded  by  a  glitter 
ing  galaxy  of  several  hundred  staff  officers,  turned  to  the  Colonel, 
removed  his  own  helmet,  and  said,  "  Mein  f  reund  Roosevelt,"  so 
much  in  German,  then  in  English,  "  I  am  happy  to  welcome  you  in 
the  presence  of  my  guards.  We  are  glad  you  have  seen  a  part  of 
our  army.  You  are  the  only  private  citizen  who  ever  reviewed 
German  troops." 

The  Kaiser  then  addressed  his  officers,  saying:  "  We  have  been 
honored  to-day  with  the  presence  of  the  distinguished  Colonel  of 
the  famous  American  Rough  Riders. 

This  bouquet  of  pleasantries  brought  the  day's  stirring  events 
to  a  finish.  The  Kaiser  and  the  Colonel  said :  "  Auf  wiedersehen 
to-morrow,"  and  motored  back  respectively  to  Potsdam  and  Berlin. 
In  accordance  with  his  policy  of  refraining  from  comment  on  the 
entertainment  provided  him,  Colonel  Roosevelt  would  only  opine  on 
returning  to  the  Embassy  that  it  had  been  "  a  most  interesting 
day." 

Asked  how  he  had  liked  the  specimen  of  German  charger 


COLONEL   ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  361 

which  he  had  ridden,  the  Colonel  said :  "  Oh,  bully,  by  George !  Ai ! 
And  what  a  corking  five  hours  in  the  saddle,  too." 

That  night  the  Roosevelts  dined  with  the  Hills.  The  guests 
included  in  addition  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  Embassy, 
Chancellor  Von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  Foreign  Secretary  and  Bar 
oness  Von  Schoen,  Seth  Low  and  wife,  Henry  White  and  wife, 
American  Consul  General  Thackara,  of  Berlin,  and  the  rector  of 
Berlin  University. 

President  Taft,  on  May  n,  appointed  Theodore  Roosevelt  spe 
cial  administrator  of  the  United  States  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
King  Edward.  Colonel  Roosevelt  accepted  the  commission  in  a 
cable  message  to  the  President. 

"  THE  WORLD  MOVEMENT." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  delivered  a  lecture  on  May  12,  on  "  The 
World  Movement,"  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  received  from 
the  University  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Emperor  William  honored  the  occasion  with  his  presence.  It 
was  the  first  time  that  His  Majesty  had  graced  a  conferment,  and 
the  courtesy  was  significant  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  German 
court  was  in  mourning  for  the  monarch's  uncle. 

The  ceremony  of  conferring  the  degree  was  staged  and  con 
ducted  with  impressive  simplicity.  There  were  no  flags  or  emblems 
of  royalty  and  the  government.  The  walls  of  the  Aula  were  bare 
except  for  the  rows  of  busts  of  Germany's  scholars  and  scientists. 

By  a  curious  coincidence,  Colonel  Roosevelt  spoke  in  the  Aula, 
or  hall,  where  the  Kaiser,  on  October  19,  1906,  rose  dramatically, 
after  an  address  by  Professor  John  W.  Burgess,  of  Columbia  Uni 
versity,  and  cried  for  three  cheers  for  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

The  only  touch  of  color  was  furnished  by  the  Senators  of  the 
University  with  their  robes  of  scarlet  and  blue  and  the  five  heads  of 
the  student  corps,  who  wore  blue  jackets,  white  breeches,  jack  boots 
and  parti-colored  sashes. 

Four  hundred  guests  of  the  University,  who  held  cards  of  ad 
mission,  were  seated  when  Emperor  William,  accompanying  the 
Colonel,  entered  from  a  side  door  of  the  hall.  As  they  appeared 


362  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

the  University  choir  chanted,  "  Heil  Dir  Im  Siegerkranz  "  (Hail  to 
the  Conqueror's  Wreath),  the  Prussian  National  Hymn,  to  the 
strains  of  "  America." 

The  Colonel  occupied  the  seat  at  the  reading  desk  and  at  his 
side  stood  the  heads  of  the  student  corps  with  drawn  swords.  This 
striking  guard  of  honor  remained  standing  and  almost  immovable 
during  the  entire  lecture  and  ceremony. 

The  Emperor  took  occasion  to  congratulate  the  Colonel  upon 
his  lecture  and  its  delivery  so  courageously  accomplished  under 
distressing  physical  conditions.  He  talked  with  the  former  Presi- 
dent  for  six  or  eight  minutes.  The  auditorium  was  filled  to  its 
capacity  of  1,200  persons  by  the  faculty  of  the  University,  students 
and  guests. 

OUTLINED  THE  LIFE  OF  THE  COLONEL. 

The  rector,  Frich  Schmidt,  opened  the  program  by  giving  an 
outline  of  the  life  of  the  Colonel  from  the  time  that  he  was  a  delicate 
child  until  he  became  an  African  Nimrod.  When  he  had  finished 
this  sketch  he  introduced  the  former  President,  who  was  received 
enthusiastically. 

The  Colonel  appeared  in  the  pink  of  physical  condition.  His 
voice  husky  at  first,  gained  steadily  in  clearness  as  he  proceeded, 
and  he  was  able  to  deliver  his  complete  written  thesis  of  9,000 
words.  To  this  he  added  extemporaneously  from  time  to  time  by 
way  of  emphasis  and  explanation. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  found  his  voice  much  improved  when  he  rose 
that  morning  and  said  that  he  felt  perfectly  able  to  deliver  his  ad 
dress.  Until  then  there  was  doubt  whether  the  Colonel  would  be 
able  to  keep  his  engagement,  and  when  it  became  known  that  he  ex 
pected  to  do  so  there  was  much  elation  among  the  Univesity  officials 
and  others  who  had  looked  forward  to  the  address  with  eagerness. 

Word  that  the  Colonel  would  be  heard  was  communicated 
swiftly  throughout  the  city  in  the  forenoon,  and  when  at  the  hour 
appointed  he  reached  the  University  the  historic  Aula  was  occupied 
by  a  distinguished  company. 

'  To-day  I  am  in  Berlin   University,"   began  the  speaker. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT    GERMANY.  363 

"  Yesterday  I  was  in  the  open  air  university  of  the  German  army 
and  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  great  master  of  that  university." 

The  Colonel  said  that  the  German  Emperor  had  often  been  held 
up  before  him  as  a  statesman  who  was  doing  things  which  he,  the 
speaker,  should  do. 

"  I  remember,"  he  added,  "  that  my  friend,  Dr.  Pritchard,  then 
President  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  at  Boston, 
told  me  of  the  Emperor's  interest  in  and  knowledge  of  technical 
education. 

'  While  in  Africa  I  used  to  think  that  there  was  something 
wrong  with  the  mail  if  it  did  not  bring  me  a  letter  from  Benjamin 
Ide  Wheeler  telling  me  of  his  admiration  for  some  feature  of  Ger 
man  life  and  of  the  Emperor's  extraordinary  qualities  and  kind 
ness." 

Then  he  launched  into  his  lecture  on  "  The  World  Movement," 
sketching  the  ancient  and  mediaeval  civilizations,  pointing  to  the 
causes  of  their  rise  and  fall,  and  drawing  lessons  to  show  how  the 
civilization  of  to-day  might  endure. 

DID  NOT  BELIEVE  CIVILIZATION  WOULD  FALL. 

He  declared  he  did  not  believe  this  civilization  would  fall ;  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  the  peoples  of  to-day  to  preserve  their  culture 
and  achievements  for  all  time.  They  had,  he  declared,  the  power  to 
hew  their  fate,  if  they  had  only  the  wit  and  courage  to  do  so. 

He  dwelt  upon  the  necessity  of  keeping  keen  the  "  fighting 
edge,"  and  asserted  that  development  must  be  broadly  along  all 
lines.  Arms  must  not  be  forgotten  for  science  and  commercialism 
must  not  supplant  entirely  the  "  virile  fighting  virtues."  He  showed 
how  Greece  and  Rome  had  decayed  because  mercenaries  had  sup 
planted  the  citizen  soldiers  of  pioneer  and  glorious  days.  He 
pointed  with  emphasis  to  the  exactly  opposite  tendency  of  modern 
days,  illustrating  with  the  American  Revolution  and  the  Civil 
War. 

Politics  were  purer,  he  declared,  and  were  not  used  so  much 
now  as  in  the  past  for  financial  gain,  although  wealth  still  had  great 
influence  in  public  affairs.  In  another  digression  from  his  set 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

speech  and  following  his  remarks  concerning  military  virtue,  the 
former  President  said : 

"  I  saw  some  of  your  German  troops  march  before  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  yesterday.  I  cannot  understand  how  any  German 
could  look  upon  those  soldiers  without  a.  feeling  of  pride  at  the 
physical  and  intellectual  character  of  those  soldiers  from  the  farm 
and  shop,  serving  their  time  and  then  returning  to  their  other  work 
to  be  replaced  by  other  and  younger  men.  I  can  see  only  hope  for 
the  future  with  such  men."  The  audience  vigorously  applauded 
Colonel  Roosevelt's  remarks  concerning  mothers  and  housewives. 

PRINCIPAL  THEMES  OF  THE  COLONEL'S  ADDRESS. 

The  Colonel  in  his  address  presented  the  following  thoughts: 

"  Personally,  I  do  not  believe  that  our  civilization  will  fall.  I 
think  that,  on  the  whole,  we  have  grown  better  and  not  worse." 

"  I  think  that,  on  the  whole,  the  future  holds  more  for  us  than 
ever  the  great  past  has  held." 

"  Assuredly  the  dreams  of  golden  glory  in  the  future  will  not 
come  true  unless,  high  of  heart  and  strong  of  hand,  by  our  own 
mighty  deeds  we  make  them  come  true." 

'  We  cannot  afford  to  develop  any  one  set  of  qualities,  any  one 
set  of  activities  at  the  cost  of  seeing  others,  equally  necessary 
atrophied." 

'  We,  the  men  of  to-day  and  of  the  future,  need  many  qualities 
if  we  are  to  do  our  work  well." 

"  One  of  the  prime  dangers  of  civilization  has  always  been  its 
tendency  to  cause  the  loss  of  the  virile  fighting  vivtues,  of  the  fight 
ing  edge." 

'  When  men  get  too  comfortable  and  lead  too  luxurious  lives 
there  is  always  danger  lest  the  softness  eat  like  an  acid  into  our 
manliness  of  fibre." 

"  If  the  average  man  will  not  work,  if  he  has  not  in  him  the 
will  and  the  power  to  be  a  good  husband  and  father ;  if  the  average 
woman  is  not  a  good  housewife,  a  good  mother,  then  the  State  will 
topple,  will  go  down." 


COLONEL   ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  305 

"  The  things  of  the  spirit  are  even  more  important  than  the 
things  of  the  body." 

"  It  would  be  a  bad  thing,  indeed  to  accept  Tolstoi  as  a  guide  in 
social  and  moral  affairs,  but  it  also  would  be  a  bad  thing  not  to  have 
Tolstoi." 

"  We  must  remember  that  it  is  only  by  working  along  the  lines 
laid  down  by  the  philanthropists — by  the  lovers  of  mankind — that 
we  can  be  sure  of  lifting  our  civilization  to  a  higher  and  more  per 
manent  plane  of  well-being." 

"  Unjust  war  is  to  be  abhorred,  but  woe  to  the  nation  that  does 
not  make  ready  to  hold  its  own  in  time  of  need  against  all  who 
would  harm  it ;  and  woe  thrice  over  to  the  nation  in  which  the  aver 
age  man  loses  the  fighting  edge,  loses  the  power  to  serve  as  a 
soldier." 

"  In  the  Grecian  and  Roman  military  history  the  change  was 
steadily  from  a  citizen  army  to  an  army  of  mercenaries.  The  exact 
reverse  has  been  the  case  with  us  in  modern  times." 

RECEIVES  DIPLOMA  AS  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 

"  The  single  fact  that  the  old  civilization  was  based  upon 
slavery  shows  the  chasm  that  separates  the  two." 

"  Forces  for  good  and  forces  for  evil  are  everywhere  evident, 
each  acting  with  a  hunderd  or  a  thousand  fold  the  intensity  with 
which  it  acted  in  former  ages." 

"  Frowning  or  hopeful,  every  man  of  leadership  in  any  line  of 
thought  or  effort  must  now  look  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own 
country." 

Dr.  Roethe,  dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy,  followed  the 
Colonel,  and  closed  a  discourse  in  German  by  addressing  the  former 
President  in  Latin.  The  dean  caused  a  laugh  among  the  Senators 
when  in  his  Latin  effort  he  used  a  feminine  ending  for  a  masculine 
noun,  and  so  furnished  the  only  pleasantry  of  two  hours  and  a  half 
of  oratory. 

As  Dr.  Roethe  handed  the  new  doctor  his  diploma  the  choir 
sang  the  German  national  hymn  and  the  audince  gave  three  cheers. 
The  exercises  ended  with  the  singing  of  "  The  Star  Spangled  Ban- 


366  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

ner  "  by  the  choir.  The  assemblage  waited  until  the  Emperor  and 
Colonel  Roosevelt  had  left  the  hall. 

The  Colonel  and  Kermit  were  guests  that  night  of  Chancellor 
Von  Bethmann-Helweg  at  a  dinner  at  the  Chancellor's  palace.  The 
others  present  included  the  American  Ambassador,  Mr.  Hill; 
Count  Zeppelin,  Herr  Delbueck,  the  Vice-Chancellor ;  Admiral  Von 
Tirpitz,  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty;  Herr  Dornburg,  Minister  of 
the  Colonies;  Baron  Von  Rheinbaben,  Minister  of  Finance,  and 
many  others  noted  in  official  and  commercial  life. 

The  Colonel  displayed  the  greatest  interest  in  Bismarck's  work 
ing  and  living  apartments.  A  reception  followed  the  dinner,  many 
of  the  members  of  the  Reichstag  and  Landtag  being  presented  to 
the  former  President. 

VISITS  HOME  FOR  WORN-OUT  WORKERS. 

The  Colonel  in  company  with  Burgomaster  Kirchner  motored 
the  following  morning  to  Buch,  a  suburb,  where  a  colony  of  1200 
worn-out  workers,  men  and  women,  are  maintained  in  relative  com 
fort  at  the  expense  of  the  city  of  Berlin.  The  subject  of  public 
dependents  was  being  pursued  by  the  former  President,  who  while 
in  Denmark  investigated  a  similar  institution. 

The  public  charges  at  Buch  are  made  up  of  the  aged,  the  infirm 
and  those  temporarily  incapacitated  for  work.  They  are  not  only 
supported  reasonably,  but  in  case  of  sickness  receive  thorough 
medical  treatment. 

Returning  to  Berlin  the  Colonel  was  the  guest  at  luncheon  of 
Ambassador  Hill  at  the  American  Embassy.  The  luncheon  party 
was  a  large  one.  During  the  luncheon  the  Colonel  proposed  a  toast 
"  to  the  health  of  His  Majesty  the  German  Emperor  and  the  future 
of  the  German  people." 

At  the  reception  which  followed,  the  Colonel  received  a  dele 
gation  from  the  Interparliamentary  Union,  who  were  introduced  by 
Prince  Von  Carolath-Beuthen.  Replying  to  an  address  presented 
him  by  the  delegates,  the  former  President  said  that  the  general 
demand  for  peace  only  excited  the  derision  of  practical  men,  but 
when  peace  was  worked  for  by  practical  men  such  as  the  delegates, 

H.B.G.— 33 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY.  367 

with  definite  aims  and  methods,  the  results  were  splendid  in  their 
fruits. 

Profesor  Brant,  President  of  the  Shakespeare  Society,  pre 
sented  the  Colonel  with  a  parchment  creating  the  recipient  an 
honorary  member  of  the  society,  which,  the  document  stated,  con 
stituted  "  a  close  tie  between  Germany  and  the  English-speaking 
world." 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  Colonel  held  a  reception  at  the  home 
of  Lieutenant  Commander  Belknap,  the  American  Naval  Attache 
at  Berlin,  where  he  met  many  high  officers  of  the  German  navy  and 
military.  At  this  reception  one  of  the  officers,  acting  on  behalf  of 
Emperor  William,  presented  Colonel  Roosevelt  with  several  photo 
graphs,  showing  the  American  ex-President  and  Emperor  William 
together  at  the  Doeberitz  manoeuvers.  The  photographs  bore  the 
autograph  of  the  Emperor. 

DINED  AT  THE  FRENCH  EMBASSY. 

The  Colonel  and  his  family  dined  in  the  evening  at  the  French 
Embassy,  the  guests  of  Jules  Cambon.  This  dinner  was  private, 
and  besides  the  Roosevelts  was  attended  only  by  Ambassador  and 
Mrs.  Hill  and  the  staffs  of  the  French  and  American  Embassies. 

Amid  the  quiet  surroundings  of  the  Roosevelt  Library  at  the 
University  of  Berlin,  the  Colonel  on  the  morning  of  May  14,  again 
tackled  the  correspondence  which  had  outrun  him  from  the  moment 
he  emerged  from  the  African  jungles.  He  failed  to  catch  up,  but 
before  the  noon  hour  he  had  made  great  progress. 

Later,  the  former  President  received  and  had  a  chat  with 
Professor  C.  G.  Schilling  and  Paul  Niedieck,  two  of  Germany's 
best-known  hunters  of  African  big  game.  The  Colonel  had  lunch 
eon  as  the  guest  of  Joseph  C.  Grew,  second  secretary  of  the  Amer 
ican  Embassy.  Other  guests  were  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  Miss  Roosevelt, 
Kermit  Roosevelt,  American  Ambassador  Hill,  Mrs.  Hill,  Miss 
Hill,  Henry  White,  former  American  Ambassador  to  France,  and 
Mrs.  White,  and  Professor  and  Frau  Schilling.  Professor  Schilling, 
with  a  stereopticon,  showed  some  flash-light  pictures  of  jungle 
animals  and  presented  the  Colonel  with  five  of  the  collection. 


368  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  GERMANY. 

The  Colonel  concluded  the  afternoon  with  a  visit  to  the  zoolo 
gical  gardens.  He  began  an  inspection  which  lasted  an  hour  and 
was  interrupted  by  a  cloudburst,  the  Colonel  taking  refuge  in  the 
ostriches'  house.  The  Colonel  talked  so  knowingly  and  interestingly 
about  the  exhibits  that  the  presence  of  attendants  provided  to  ex 
plain  things  was  quite  superfluous. 

During  the  day  Emperor  William  sent  to  the  Colonel  a  vase 
from  the  royal  porcelain  works.  The  vase  is  three  feet  in  height, 
and  bears  upon  one  side  a  likeness  of  His  Majesty.  On  the  opposite 
side  are  two  views  of  the  imperial  palace  in  Berlin,  one  from  the 
bridge  of  the  Elector,  showing  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  great 
elector,  and  the  other  the  palace  terrace,  with  the  statue  of  William 
of  Orange.  The  following  day  at  noon  the  Colonel  and  his  party 
started  for  London.  There  was  a  large  crowd  at  the  steamboat 
landing  to  bid  the  Colonel  goodbye. 

A  correspondent  of  the  London  Times,  writing  to  his  journal 
of  the  strenuous  days  that  the  Colonel  has  inflicted  upon  the  re 
porters  in  their  efforts  to  keep  up  with  the  Roosevelt  procession, 
said: 

"  This  is  indeed  a  singular  adventure  upon  which  we  are  en 
gaged.  It  is  useless  to  pretend  it  is  not  royal  progress,  for  what 
further  marks  of  distinction  could  any  sovereign  receive  than  to 
travel  in  royal  trains,  dwell  in  king's  houses,  be  welcomed  by  Kings, 
Queens  and  Princes,  drive  in  state  carriages  amid  flags  and  cheering 
crowds,  and  have  miles  of  warships  manned  for  him,  and  it  was  not 
only  the  ex-President  who  was  honored  as  if  he  were  a  reigning 
monarch — Mrs.  Roosevelt,  with  her  charm  and  quiet  dignity,  was 
honored  equally;  her  bright,  unspoilt,  attractive  son  and  daughter 
were  honored,  too.  The  whole  affair  was  quite  unique." 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

As  "  FUNERAL  AMBASSADOR  "  is  WELCOMED  BY  LORD  DUNDONALD 
RECEIVED  AT  THE  MARYBOROUGH  HOUSE  BY  KING  GEORGE  V— 
VIEWED  THE  LYING-IN-STATE  OF  KING  EDWARD — PROTECTED 
BY  RED  COATS  AFTER  THE  MANNER  OF  ROYAI/TY — CELEBRATED 
ENGLISH  UNIVERSITY  CONFERS  HIGH  HONOR — DOCTOR  OF 
LAWS — RECEIVES  THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CITY  OF  LONDON. 

/COLONEL  ROOSEVELT'S  amazing  receptions  in  Europe 
^-^  have  made  a  breach  in  court  etiquette  the  magnitude  and 
importance  of  which  few  Americans  can  understand. 

No  similar  honors  ever  before  paid  by  royalty  to  an  ex-Presi 
dent.  Crowned  heads  visit  Paris  incognito  to  avoid  raising  any 
awkward  issue  as  to  the  precise  position  of  the  ruler  of  the  French 
Republic.  It  was  years  after  France  became  a  Republic  before  any 
European  sovereign  of  the  first  rank  visited  Paris  in  state. 

An  ex-President  has  in  the  past  only  been  recognized  as  a  very 
distinguished  private  citizen  whom  the  sovereign  of  the  country  he 
visited  met  with  a  gracious  and  friendly  welcome.  To  European 
eyes  it  seems  very  strange  that  crowned  heads  should  have  met 
Theodore  Roosevelt  at  railroad  stations  and,  still  more,  that  he  was 
asked  to  review  troops  in  company  with  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 

These  are  trifles  to  an  American.  They  should  be  trifles  every 
where.  But  in  Europe  questions  of  etiquette  and  precedence  are 
not  trifles.  They  are  realities.  They  control  affairs.  They  affect 
the  public  imagination.  They  influence  events.  Members  of  the 
royal  caste  of  Europe,  numbering  many  hundreds  of  men  and 
women,  hold  themselves  apart  from  all  the  world. 

Never  since  Benjamin  Franklin  upheld  the  glory  and  dignity 
M.  L.  B.  G.  * 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

of  the  new-born  republic  have  the  power,  majesty  and  achievements 
of  the  great  American  nation  been  more  forcibly  presented  to  the 
people  of  the  Old  World  than  they  were  by  our  greatest  President, 
Theodore  Roosevelt. 

As  a  publicity  promoter  the  honored  Colonel  of  the  Rough 
Riders  was  in  the  vanguard.  He  made  every  hamlet  in  Europe 
ring  with  praises  of  this  country  and  its  people. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  London  he  was  received  in  Marl- 
borough  House  by  King  George  and  met  Queen  Mary.  This  was 
regarded  as  an  exceptional  compliment,  and  the  two  engaged  in  an 
extended  conversation. 

The  entrance  to  the  city  of  the  distinguished  American  was  a 
quiet  one  and  in  marked  contrast  with  his  appearance  at  other 
capitals  and  with  what  would  have  been  made  of  the  occasion  but 
for  the  death  of  the  British  King. 

THE  COLONEL  AT  THE  BIER  OF  KING  EDWARD  VII. 

Conducted  privately  to  the  throne  room  in  Buckingham  Palace, 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  arrived  in  London,  on  May  16,  was  per 
mitted  to  look  upon  the  face  of  King  Edward  VII.  The  Colonel, 
unattended  by  any  of  his  party  stood  for  several  moments  beside 
the  coffin  and  then,  with  head  bowed,  moved  slowly  away. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  the  Roosevelts  called  upon  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  Connaught  at  Clarence  House.  They  also  called 
upon  the  Crown  Prince  and  Crown  Princess  Christian  of  Den 
mark,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyll,  the  Princess  Henry  of 
Battenberg,  and  the  Duchess  of  Fife,  and  at  Buckingham  Palace 
inscribed  their  names  in  the  visiting  books  of  Dowager  Empress 
Marie  of  Russia,  and  Duke  Michael  Alexandrovitch,  King  Haakon 
and  Queen  Maud  of  Norway. 

They  had  just  returned  to  Dorchester  House  when  they  re 
ceived  a  return  call  from  King  Haakon,  who  greeted  the  special 
Ambassador  and  his  wife  as  old  friends.  While  luncheon  was  being 
served  the  Duke  of  Connaught  and  Prince  Arthur  of  Connaught 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

called.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  went  to  Buckingham  Palace  again  in  the 
afternoon  and  paid  a  visit  to  Queen  Maud. 

Never  before  had  London  newspapers  spoken  in  such  praise 
of  Roosevelt  as  they  did  the  next  day.  There  were  column  editorials 
devoted  to  character  studies  of  him  and  without  exception  they  were 
friendly  in  the  extreme. 

Everywhere  the  utmost  satisfaction  was  expressed  that  he  was 
chosen  to  represent  the  United  States  at  the  king's  funeral. 

Several  newspapers  said  that  in  happier  circumstances  the 
former  President's  arrival  would  have  been  marked  by  a  generous 
tribute  of  public  enthusiasm,  and  that  coming  as  the  chief  mourner 
of  the  United  States  the  welcome,  while  less  elaborate,  is  none  the 
less  sincere. 

THE  COLONEL  RECEIVES  CAREFUL  ATTENTION. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  guarded  by  four  stalwart  scarlet-coated 
English  soldiers  for  two  days  preceding  and  continued  until  after 
King  Edward's  funeral.  In  placing  this  guard  over  America's 
special  envoy  the  Colonel  was  accorded  the  same  distinction  enjoyed 
by  Kings  and  other  royalties  who  were  in  London  for  the  funeral. 
The  same  militant  scene  at  Dorchester  House  was  to  be  seen  at 
Buckingham  and  at  other  places  where  royalty  was  quartered. 

The  Colonel  had  a  lengthy  audience  with  King  Haakon  of 
Norway  and  he  also  met  King  George  of  Greece.  With  all  the 
members  of  the  American  special  embassy  he  wrote  his  name  in  the 
books  of  King  Alfonso  of  Spain,  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  Grand 
Duke  Michael  and  other  royalties. 

The  Colonel  was  busy  the  following  morning  in  his  own  room 
attending  to  his  correspondence.  He  took  luncheon  at  Dorchester 
House.  The  guests  included  Augustine  Birrell,  the  Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland,  and  Lewis  Harcourt,  the  First  Commissioner  of 
Works.  After  the  luncheon,  the  kings  of  Denmark  and  Greece  called 
on  the  Colonel.  Before  they  left,  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  brother 
of  the  Kaiser,  called,  and  he  was  quickly  followed  by  Lord  Alver- 
stone,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

Later  on,  the  Colonel,  accompanied  by  his  own  staff  and  Mr. 
White,  the  special  diplomatic  delegate  to  the  funeral  of  King 
Edward ;  Major  T.  Bentley  Mott,  the  American  military  attache  at 
the  American  embassy  at  Paris  and  the  gentlemen  assigned  to  his 
suite  by  King  George,  went  to  "  inscribe."  The  kings  of  Portugal 
and  Belgium,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  princes  and  a  few  other 
special  representatives  at  the  funeral  were  there  at  the  same  time. 

As  the  Colonel  was  leaving  Buckingham  Palace  after  "  inscrib 
ing,"  he  encountered  the  Kaiser,  who  greeted  him  warmly.  Taking 
the  Colonel  by  the  hand,  he  led  him  away  to  his  own  apartments, 
where  he  kept  him  in  conversation  for  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 

At  night  the  Colonel  dined  at  Buckingham  Palace,  where  King 
George  gave  the  first  dinner  of  his  reign.  It  was  a  great  banquet, 
with  a  numerous  company  of  guests,  comprising  all  the  royal  and 
other  special  representatives  at  the  funeral. 

ANCIENT  POMP  AND  CEREMONIAL. 

With  pomp  and  ceremonial  borrowed  from  the  past  ages  ming 
ling  in  picturesque  contrast  with  modern  mourning,  the  British  Em 
pire  on  May  20  surrendered  up  its  royal  dead.  Edward  VII,  the 
thirty-sixth  in  the  line  of  sovereigns  of  England  since  the  conquest 
of  the  dauntless  Normans,  mourned  by  the  world  at  large,  lies  in  a 
crypt  in  St.  George's  chapel  royal. 

The  streets  of  London  were  lined  with  30,000  picked  troops, 
called  to  restrain  the  great  crowds  as  well  as  to  protect  Kings, 
Princes  and  other  royalties  as  well  as  distinguished  representatives 
of  foreign  governments  who  followed  the  coffin  of  the  dead  King. 

The  royal  carriage  in  which  the  Colonel  rode  received  even 
more  attention  than  any  of  the  kings  who  rode  in  the  funeral  pro 
cession.  The  London  public  had  the  processional  personnel  at  its 
fingers'  ends,  calling  off  accurately  the  exalted  men  who  appeared. 

All  the  reigning  monarchs,  of  course,  were  on  horseback,  but 
Colonel  Roosevelt,  in  accordance  with  conventions,  occupied  a 
carriage,  with  the  windows  open,  thus  affording  a  brief  glimpse 
which  disclosed  him  talking  animatedly  with  M.  Pichon,  the  French 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

envoy,  and  Sanad  Khan  Montaz  Es  Sultaneh,  who  represented 
Persia,  the  trio  comprising  the  total  number  of  special  envoys. 

At  Windsor  the  Colonel  joined  the  foot  procession  to  the  tomb, 
later  participating  in  the  royal  luncheon  at  Windsor,  where  more 
than  one  hundred  kings,  queens,  princes  and  princesses  sat  at  ten 
tables.  The  Colonel  sat  at  the  table  of  King  George. 

Everyone  in  attendance  admitted  that  the  Colonel  \vas  the 
dominating  figure.  The  royalties  who  had  not  yet  been  presented 
crowded  about  him  eager  for  an  introduction.  The  former  Presi 
dent  was  literally  besieged  by  royal  questioners  to  learn  his  views  of 
European  politics,  but  he  was  on  his  guard  and  countered  by  ques 
tions  regarding  the  duties  and  burdens  of  kingship. 

MR  ROOSEVELT   INTERESTS  A  NOTABLE   GATHERING. 

For  more  than  an  hour  this  crossfire  of  questions  continued  and 
finally  developed  into  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  luncheon.  So 
interested  did  the  notable  assemblage,  the  greatest  gathering  of 
royalty  ever  seen  at  such  a  function,  become  in  the  Colonel  that  for 
a  time  the  note  of  sorrow  over  the  burial  of  King  Edward  was  lost 
sight  of.  Roosevelt's  personality  swept  everything  else  aside.  That 
which  impressed  the  Colonel  most  was  the  demeanor  of  the  people, 
the  solemn  dignity  of  the  ceremony. 

Mrs.  Roosevelt  spent  an  hour  or  more  on  May  25  in  the  com 
pany  of  the  Queen  Mother  Alexandra,  at  Buckingham  Palace.  The 
call  was  made  on  the  invitation  of  Her  Majesty,  who,  when  she  re 
ceived  the  Colonel  expressed  the  hope  that  she  might  see  his  wife. 

The  conversation  between  the  two  had  a  wide  range.  The 
Queen  Mother  was  especially  interested  in  her  visitor's  description 
of  the  place  occupied  by  women  in  the  United  States.  Her  Majesty 
also  inquired  about  Mrs.  Roosevelt's  journey  to  the  Soudan  to  meet 
her  husband  and  listened  with  evident  pleasure  to  the  experiences 
related. 

The  London  Daily  Telegraph,  in  a  long  editorial  eulogy  of  the 
Colonel,  describes  him  as  the  most  powerful  statesman  in  the  English 


aOLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

speaking  world.  "  His  personality,"  it  said,  "  is  better  known 
throughout  the  globe  than  any  other,  except  the  German  Emperor 
and  in  some  ways  he  is  the  stronger  marked  of  the  two  and  he  could, 
if  he  pleased,  become  the  Warwick  of  American  politics." 

The  Colonel  came  forth  from  the  seclusion  imposed  upon  him 
by  England's  mourning  requirements  in  pink  and  scarlet,  his  gor 
geous  new  LL.  D.  robes  being  a  little  more  brilliant  than  the  other 
accessories  attending  his  initial  public  appearance  in  England  to 
receive  the  Cambridge  honors. 

MR.  ROOSEVEL  RECEIVES  A  "ROISTERING"  WELCOME. 

As  he  trod  for  the  first  time  the  paths  used  in  student  days  by 
John  Harvard  and  other  famous  men  he  saw  in  the  middle  of  the 
\valk  a  Teddy  bear,  placed  there  with  an  extended  welcoming  paw 
by  the  roistering  "  undergrads."  Later  in  the  Senate  House, 
where  were  assembled  masters  of  colleges,  dons  and  a  few  fortunate 
Americans  who  alone  of  the  applying  hundreds  succeeded  in  pro 
curing  cards,  he  gamely  survived  the  ragging  by  the  undergraduates 
crowding  the  oaken  galleries,  from  whence  Teddy  bears,  suspended 
from  strings,  were  made  to  pounce  down  on  him  as  he  sought  to 
depart  dignifiedly  in  the  scholastic  procession. 

Good  naturedly  he  waived  the  privilege  of  capturing  the  biggest 
bear  as  it  dangled  purposely  within  reach,  the  custom  being  for 
newly-made  doctors  to  take  such  a  souvenir.  So  his  neglect  aroused 
renewed  shrieks  of  laughter  attending  the  traditional  tomfoolery. 

The  expression  of  prophecy  that  Englishmen  would  refuse  to 
take  Mr.  Roosevelt  overseriously  apparently  is  contained  in  verses 
dedicated  to  him  and  published  in  Cambridge's  organ,  the  "  Gowns 
man  " : 

"  The  lion  and  the  unicorn  will  scatter  for  their  lives 
When  the  mighty  big  game  hunter  from  America  arrives: 
But  his  prowess  in  the  jungle  is  as  nothing  to  his  fame 
In  the  copybooks  cum  Sunday  chapel  missionary  game. 
Oh,  we're  ready  for  you  Teddy.     Our  sins  are  all  reviewed 
We've  put  away  our  novels  and  our  statues  in  the  nude. 
We've  read  your  precious  homilies,  and  hope  to  hear  some  more. 
At  the  coming  visitation  of  the  moral  Theodore. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

"No,  seriously,  Teddy,  we're  proud  to  have  you  here; 
Your  speeches  may  be  out  of  date,  your  methods  may  be  queer ; 
But  you've  done  some  pretty  decent  things  without  delay  or  fuss, 
And  you're  full  of  grit  inside,  and  that's  what  appeals  to  us. 
So  we're  ready  for  you,  Teddy,  but  take  my  good  advice, 
Though  sin  is  really  naughty,  we  find  it  really  nice, 
So,  when  you  come  to  speak  to  us  in  Providence's  name, 
Give  the  goby  to  the  Sunday  chapel  missionary  game." 

The  ordeal  perhaps  was  most  trying  as  the  Colonel  stood  alone 
facing  the  public  orator,  who  in  fluent  Latin  recited  the  ex-Presi 
dent's  achievements,  the  galleries  alternately  applauding  with  in 
dorsement  or  mischievousness.  He  said :  "  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a 
friend  of  peace  and  a  friend  of  the  human  race. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT,  THE  MIGHTY  HUNTER,  EULOGIZED 

"  He  has  waged  war  on  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  whether 
denizens  of  his  own  Rocky  Mountains  or  of  the  land  described  by 
Horace  as  the  nurse  of  lions.  His  courage  has  been  witnessed  by 
Africa,  whence  he  has  lately  returned  with  spoils  won  in  British 
dominions.  His  fame  has  since  been  attested  by  Europe,  which  has 
received  him  with  royal  honors  during  his  splendid  progress  from 
Italy  to  Scandinavia.  Colonel  Roosevelt  is  a  faithful  friend  of  the 
British  Empire  and  of  all  good  men  throughout  the  world." 

After  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  buildings  and  grounds  the 
Colonel  was  a  guest  of  Cambridge  Union,  a  student  club,  where  the 
enthusiastic  reception  so  enthused  him  that  he  made  a  half-hour 
instead  of  a  five-minute  speech,  as  planned. 

He  covered  a  wide  range  of  topics,  from  football  and  lions  to 
good  citizenship  and  the  strenuous  life.  He  wished  that  Americans 
could  learn  from  Cambridge  how  to  make  football  less  homicidal. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  startled  the  whole  world  when,  in  ancient 
Guild  Hall,  replying  to  a  speech  giving  him  the  freedom  of  the  city 
of  London,  he  admonished  England  that  its  rule  in  Egypt  was  not 
what  it  should  be,  declaring  with  emphasis  that  "  you  have  erred 
and  it  is  for  you  to  make  good." 

Throughout  his  speech,  which  caused  much  surprise,  the  Colonel 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

gave  England  some  bold  advice  as  to  her  duty  toward  her  most 
troublesome  dependency  in  Africa.  It  was,  he  said,  either  right  or 
not  right  for  Great  Britain  to  be  in  Egypt  and  establish  order  there. 
If  it  was  not  right  she  should  get  out. 

He  declared  that  Great  Britain  has  given  Egypt  the  best  govern 
ment  that  the  country  has  had  in  2000  years,  but  in  certain  vital 
points  it  had  erred.  Timidity  and  sentimentality,  he  said,  might 
cause  more  harm  than  violence  and  injustice.  "  Sentimentality,"  he 
added,  "  is  the  most  broken  reed  upon  which  righteousness  can  lean." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  denounced  the  Nationalist  party  of  Egypt  as 
neither  desirous  nor  capable  of  guaranteeing  primary  justice.  It 
was  trying,  he  said,  to  bring  murderous  chaos  upon  the  land. 

THE  COLONEL  EXPRESSES  KINDLY  FEELINGS. 

In  the  course  of  his  speech  the  Colonel  said :  "  I  am  especially 
appreciative  of  to-day's  honor  because  it  is  a  sign  of  the  good-will 
tending  to  knit  speakers  of  the  English  language.  I  prefer  to  talk 
to-day  regarding  matters  of  real  concern  to  you  rather  than  merely 
to  express  thanks  and  eulogy. 

"  I  have  recently  spent  nearly  a  year  under  the  British-African 
protectorates.  Your  men  in  Africa  are  doing  a  great  work  for  the 
British  Empire  and  for  civilization.  The  nations  which  are  con 
quering  the  savage  lands  for  civilization  should  work  together. 
Mankind  is  benefited  by  the  French  occupation  of  Algiers  and  Tunis, 
just  as  mankind  is  benefited  from  England's  work  in  India,  which  is 
similarly  for  the  interests  of  civilization. 

"  The  work  that  England  and  Germany  is  doing  in  East  Africa 
will  succeed  and  the  East  African  highlands  can  be  made  any  white 
man's  country.  Every  one  has  benefited  since  America  took  posses 
sion  of  the  Philippines.  The  East  African  settlers  remind  me  of 
the  frontiersmen  that  built  up  the  western  part  of  America.  They 
are  of  the  same  sturdy,  fearless  type. 

"  Regarding  Egypt,  I  speak  as  an  outsider,  but  this  is  to  your 
advantage,  as  I  speak  without  national  prejudice,  and  also  as  a  well- 
wisher  to  the  British  Empire.  I  speak  not  only  as  an  American  but 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

as  a  radical,  a  real  and  not  a  mock  democrat,  who  feels  that  his  first 
thought  is  bound  to  be  for  the  welfare  of  the  masses  of  mankind, 
and  who  wars  against  violence  and  injustice  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  by  which  while  President  I  acted  toward  the  Philippines. 

"  You  treated  the  Pan-Egyptian  movement  and  religious 
struggles  fairly  impartially.  Instead  of  acknowledging  this,  a 
section  of  the  natives  took  advantage  of  this  treatment  for  the  de 
velopment  of  an  anti- foreign  movement.  Premier  Boutros  Pascha, 
a  competent  official,  an  upholder  of  the  British  rule  and  a  worker 
for  his  countrymen,  was  murdered  because  of  these  facts.  The 
attitude  of  the  Egyptian  Nationalists  regarding  the  murder  of 
Boutros  shows  that  they  are  not  only  not  desirous,  but  are  incapable 
of  granting  even  primary  justice. 

THE  COLONEL'S  PLAIN  EXPRESSIONS. 

"If  you  feel  that  you  ought  not  to  be  in  Egypt  and  have  no 
desire  to  keep  order  there,  by  all  means  get  out.  If  you  feel  that  it 
is  your  duty  to  civilization  to  stay,  then  show  yourselves  ready  to 
meet  the  responsibility  of  your  position. 

"  You  saved  Egypt  from  ruin,  yet  if  not  governed  from  the 
outside  Egypt  will  again  sink  into  chaos.  Some  nation  must  govern 
Egypt.  I  hope  you  will  decide  that  it  is  your  duty  to  be  that  nation." 

The  body  of  the  magnificent  Guildhall  was  filled  by  12.15 
o'clock,  when  the  Lord  Mayor,  Sir  John  Knill,  and  Lady  Knill  en 
tered  and  took  seats  in  the  center  of  the  dais.  Then  the  guests  of 
honor  who  filled  the  dais  were  announced  separately.  They  included 
many  Americans. 

Sir  Joseph  Dimsdale,  the  chamberlain  of  London,  then  pre 
sented  a  copy  of  the  resolution  in  a  gold  casket  to  Colonel  Roosevelt. 
After  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  King  Edward  the  chamberlain 
paid  a  glowing  eulogy  to  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  concluded  by  present 
ing  him  with  the  casket,  at  the  same  time  offering  him  "  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship." 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  who  had  arisen,  grasped  the  Chamberlain's 
hand  and  the  Colonel,  with  notes  in  his  hands,  commenced  his  ad- 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

dress,  first  referring  to  the  suddenness  of  King  Edward's  death,  at 
whose  funeral,  he  said,  he  had  the  high  honor  to  represent  the 
American  people.  The  address  occupied  forty-eight  minutes  in  its 
delivery. 

A  few  presentations  of  those  present  were  then  made  to  the 
Colonel,  after  which  Lord  Mayor  Knill  and  the  Colonel,  preceded 
by  the  city  swordbearer,  the  mace  bearers  and  the  reception  com 
mittee  and  followed  by  the  company  that  had  been  seated  on  the  dais, 
left  the  hall  and  drove  to  the  Mansion  House  for  luncheon. 

The  Colonel,  with  Ambassador  Reid  on  his  left,  rode  in  the 
Lord  Mayor's  semi-state  carriage  drawn  by  four  horses.  The  Lord 
Mayor's  famous  fat  coachman,  in  his  cocked  hat,  plush  breeches,  silk 
stockings,  plush  coat  and  white  wig,  sat  on  the  driver's  box. 

A  COMMENT  FROM  THE  "  MORNING  POST." 

The  London  Morning  Post,  in  commenting  on  Colonel  Roose 
velt's  speech  said:  "  The  people  of  this  country  are  grateful  for  the 
friendly  appreciation  expressed  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  Guildhall  of 
the  way  the  British  public  servants  administer  the  regions  intrusted 
to  their  care  in  British  East  Africa,  Uganda  and  Egyptian  Soudan. 

"  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  also  a  criticism  to  convey  and  a  sug 
gestion  to  make  that  is  a  delicate  task  for  a  guest  and  an  outside 
observer.  He  grappled  with  it  in  the  only  possible  way.  He  ex 
plained  that  he  felt  debarred  from  any  expression  that  would  be 
other  than  sincere. 

"  Mr.  Roosevelt  thinks  the  British  Government  is  too  tender 
hearted  in  its  dealings  with  Egypt,  and  he  thinks  the  so-called  Na 
tionalist  agitation  receives  too  much  toleration,  and  that  it  should  be 
kept  down  with  a  strong  hand.' 

The  London  Times  said:  "  It  would  show  a  sad  lack  of  humor, 
but  then  a  great  many  among  us  are  deficient  in  that  saving  grace,  to 
take  in  bad  part  criticism  which  is  sincere.  Well  informed  beyond 
all  question  and  thoroughly  friendly,  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  reminded  us 
in  a  most  kindly  way  of  what  we  are  at  least  in  danger  of  forgetting 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

and  no  impatience  of  outside  criticism  ought  to  be  allowed  to  divert 
us  from  considering  the  substantial  truth  of  his  words." 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  the  only  guest  at  a  luncheon  given  in 
his  honor  the  following  day  by  the  Irish  Party  at  Carlton  House. 
The  original  scheme  was  to  entertain  him  in  the  House  of  Commons 
when  the  whole  party  could  be  present,  but  the  adjournment  of 
Parliament  made  this  impossible. 

John  Redmond  occupied  the  toastmaster's  chair.  There  were 
also  present  John  Dillon,  T.  P.  O'Connor,  Joseph  Develin  and 
fourteen  other  members  of  the  Irish  party.  The  table  was  decor 
ated  with  Irish  flags  and  floral  designs  of  Irish  harps  and  Teddy 
bears.  "  Each  person,  including  the  Colonel,  wore  a  buttonhole 
bouquet  of  shramrock  and  violets. 

Mr.  Redmond  welcomed  the  Colonel  as  a  life-long  friend  of  the 
Irish  people.  In  replying,  the  ex-President  said  there  was  another 
tie  between  them,  the  tie  of  blood,  for  he  was  partly  of  Irish  descent. 
He  also  said  in  the  Cuban  campaign  the  Irish  soldiers  were  among 
the  best  in  his  regiment  and  that  in  his  Cabinet  there  had  been 
several  men  of  Irish  descent. 

"THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  AS  CHIEF  JUSTICE  OF  THE  WORLD." 

This  is  the  lifework,  which  the  logic  of  events  and  the  known 
course  of  international  affairs  are  preparing  for  our  great  ex-Pre 
sident. 

To  this  end,  his  trip  abroad  has  been  directed. 

To  this  end,  Secretary  Kn^x  launched  his  proposal  for  a  per 
manent  international  tribunal  now  accepted  by  all  the  Powers. 

To  further  this,  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  at 
Washington,  on  June  2,  favorably  acted  on  a  resolution  proposing  a 
special  commission  of  five  members  to  endeavor,  by  a  mission 
abroad,  to  unite  foreign  nations  in  a  common  effort,  first  to  limit 
navies,  and,  second,  by  international  agreement  to  constitute  "  the 
combined  navies  of  the  world  as  an  international  force  for  the 
preservation  of  universal  peace." 

Many  Representatives  in  Congress  would  like  Colonel  Roose* 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

velt  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  proposed  Peace  Commission, 
The  real  negotiations  for  international  peace  gravitate  by  certain  and 
inevitable  steps  towards  the  selection  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  the 
first  "  Chief  Justice  "  of  the  world's  first  permanent  international 
court. 

Such  a  court  is  now  certain.  This  is  settled.  Details  are  un 
decided.  Even  so  important  a  matter  as  the  precise  number  of 
Powers  to  be  represented  in  the  court  has  yet  to  be  determined.  A 
denial  would  be  as  yet  easy  as  to  any  positive  assertion,  beyond  the 
broad  fact  that  such  a  court  is  now  accepted  by  every  Power  whom 
Senator  Knox  asked  to  agree  to  a  permanent  international  tribunal. 

PROVISION  OF  THE   HAGUE  CONFERENCE. 

The  first  Hague  Conference  provided  for  the  machinery  by 
which  a  list  of  arbitrators,  two  from  each  country,  was  provided, 
from  which  a  Peace  Court  could  be  selected  when  needed.  The 
second  Hague  Conference  left  this  machinery  unchanged,  but  added, 
the  United  States  proposing  and  Germany  adding  its  powerful  in 
fluence,  a  permanent  admirality  court,  ready  to  act  as  a  tribunal  of 
last  resort  when  war  came. 

Secretary  Knox  proposed  to  seven  Powers,  England,  France, 
Germany,  Russia,  Austria-Hungary,  Italy  and  Japan,  a  permanent 
arbitral  court,  each  Power  to  name  two  members  who  will  always 
be  ready  to  hear  cases  and  to  be  organized  like  other  courts,  with  a 
docket,  rules  and  a  recognized  procedure. 

The  colossal  fact  which  ever-reaches  all  the  rest  and  brings  the 
world  nearer  peace  than  at  any  time  In  the  History  of  Man,  is  that 
the  Powers  whose  common  action  now  governs  the  world  and 
renders  the  opposition  of  any  lesser  power  ridiculous,  have  agreed 
on  a  permanent  court  along  Secretary  Knox's  lines,  details  to  be 
decided  later. 

Germany  was  expected  to  refuse  and  Germany  was  almost  the 
first  power  to  accept  "  in  principle."  France  accepted,  but  desired 
changes  in  the  way  in  which  the  judges  were  selected  so  as  to  take 
care  of  the  interests  of  the  lesser  powers. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND 

With  Spain,  France  now  has  close  treaty  relations  which  render 
it  necessary  for  French  diplomacy  to  consider  the  Spanish  dignity 
and  punctilio.  Italy  followed  Germany  and  France. 

England  is  friendly  to  the  proposal,  but  waits  on  the  action  of 
its  Eastern  ally,  Japan.  Japan's  acceptance  is  certain  when  the  final 
decision  comes,  because  no  one  Power  can  stay  out  when  the  United 
States,  Germany,  France  and  Italy  are  agreed  and  Russia  has  added 
her  assent,  with  Austria-Hungary  practically  included  in  the  accept 
ance  of  Germany. 

The  formal  proposal  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  be  named  for  this 
post  is  believed  to  come  from  Germany.  It  matters  little  which 
Power  speaks.  The  logic  of  events  names  Roosevelt.  Beyond  any 
other  man,  the  world  over,  he  is  in  line  for  the  place.  He  satisfies 
Germany,  and  neither  England  nor  France  can  object.  Both  would 
welcome  him.  No  European  can  be  named  as  Chief  Justice  for 
this  post,  for  jealousies  are  too  acute.  Neither  Russia  nor  Japan 
can  object  to  the  man  who  made  peace  between  them. 

MR.  ROOSEVELT  FOR  PEACE  AND  ARBITRATION. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  is  no  lawyer.  No  one  ever  charged  him 
with  being  that.  He  is  a  man  after  the  Kaiser's  own  heart.  While 
Roosevelt  is  for  peace  and  arbitration,  the  monarchs  and  generals 
commanding,  feel  that  they  "  can  do  business  with  him."  He 
brought  peace  between  Japan  and  Russia,  with  energy  and  decision, 
but  without  ruffling  a  hair  of  either.  He  would  not  let  Japan  ask 
for  too  much.  He  made  Russia  concede  enough.  Neither  lost  in 
dignity. 

At  Panama,  in  Santo  Domingo  and  in  lesser  international 
issues,  Theodore  Roosevelt  satisfied  Europe  that  he  had  no  small 
scruples  about  getting  things  done,  when  great  ends  w?ere  in  view 
for  civilization  and  order.  At  the  head  of  an  international  court 
he  could  view  issues  and  disputed  questions  as  a  statesman  called  to 
grave  responsibilities  and  not  as  do  lawyer  and  judges,  called  solely 
to  pass  on  the  law  between  individuals. 

Every  man  in  Washington  who  knows  affairs,  every  diplomat, 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

every  one  called  to  international  issues,  sees  in  Theodore  Roosevelt 
the  one  man  who  comes  from  a  free,  self-governing  country  and  yet 
would  be  accepted  by  the  Rulers  of  great  countries. 

All  Roosevelt's  trip  has  been  directed  to  this  end.  Read  in 
the  light  of  this  proposition  and  this  future  post,  how  masterly  are 
his  speeches !  The  peace-loving  people  have  got  to  accept  the  great 
peacemaker. 

His  speeches  at  Cairo  and  Guildhall  on  Egypt  have  stilled  all 
fear  among  the  colony-holding  nations  that  the  new  international 
court  might  be  used  to  raise  issues  as  to  subject  nations.  At  Berlin, 
Germany,  Roosevelt  had  a  good  word  for  compulsory  military  ser 
vice  and  standing  armies.  At  Paris  he  saw  in  France  the  world's 
intellectual  leadership.  The  dread  of  the  small  lands  he  has  stilled 
by  his  utterance  on  international  peace  and  arbitration  at  Stock 
holm.  He  invoked  a  great  past  at  Rome  and  the  industrial  future 
at  Brussels,  with  a  few  judicious  words  which  showed  he  had  no 
prejudices  regarding  the  Congo. 

This  would  be  a  life  position.  It  would  carry  a  salary  com 
mensurate  with  its  importance.  What  is  of  far  more  weight  in 
dignity,  in  world-wide  influence,  in  historic  prestige  and  in  genuine 
importance  and  actual  power,  nothing  would  equal  it. 

Much  on  the  court  has  yet  to  be  settled.  The  smaller  powers 
are  certain  to  protest.  Powers  with  great  territorial  possession  like 
Holland  and  Belgium  are  certain  to  protest.  All  South  America 
will  be  loud  in  objection.  The  United  States  wishes  no  disorder 
there. 

AN  ENGLISH  ESTIMATE  OF  ROOSEVELT. 

The  British  Weekly  thus  speaks  of  our  ex-President,  whose 
visit  to  Europe  has  touched  the  hearts  of  the  people,  both  high  and 
low,  in  such  a  remarkable  degree: 

*  The  attraction  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  that  he  is  America  in  the 
flesh.  When  he  speaks  the  American  nation  speaks.  Therefore 
we  in  Europe  pay  him  heed,  as  we  ought  to,  for  the  attitude  of  the 
American  people  concerns  us  all.  Red-blooded,  warm-hearted, 
reckless  and  wise,  fierce  and  kind,  a  man  of  the  world  in  the  best 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

sense,  with  high  ethical  standards  and  sincere  religious  convictions, 
Mr.  Roosevelt  does  honor  to  a  country  where  he  is  beyond  com 
parison  the  most  outstanding  man,  and  of  which,  to  all  appearance, 
he  might  be,  if  he  chose,  President  for  life.  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a 
true  friend  of  peace,  though  very  far  removed  from  Quaker  prin 
ciples.  There  is  something  wholesome,  breezy,  and  invigorating 
in  his  talk,  whether  one  agrees  with  him  or  not.  All  that  his  critics 
can  say  is  that  he  speaks  platitudes,  but  platitudes  need  to  be  spoken 
till  they  are  carried  into  practice." 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  addresses  since  his  return  from  the  wilds 
of  Africa  have  been  a  great  contribution  to  the  moral  forces  of  the 
present  time.  He  has  spoken  under  circumstances  not  given  to  any 
other  man,  and  he  said  the  best  things  in  every  place,  who  else 
than  he  could  have  spoken  as  he  has  done  ? 

On  June  7th  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  the  guest  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  where  he  delivered  his  Romanes  lecture,  and  the  Uni 
versity  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  civil 

law. 

THE  LECTURE  AND  CONFERMENT. 

The  lecture  and  the  conferment  constituted  ^the  main  feature  of 
the  day,  but  it  did  not  complete  the  program,  which  was  as  crowded 
as  any  that  the  distinguished  American  had  undertaken  in  his 
European  travels. 

Oxford  was  glad  to  see  our  former  President  and  made  the 
fact  known.  First  there  was  a  reception  given  by  the  Mayor  of 
the  corporation  at  the  town  hall.  The  auditorium  was  filled  to  its 
limits,  and  when  the  guests  appeared  the  audience  joined  in  singing 
"  For  He's  a  Jolly  Good  Fellow." 

From  the  town  hall  the  Colonel  made  hurried  visits  to  the  lead 
ing  colleges  and  to  other  places  of  historic  interest. 

He  was  entertained  at  luncheon  by  the  American  Club,  leaving 
soon  afterwards  for  the  Sheldonian  Theater  for  his  lecture  and  the 
ceremonies  that  aded  a  D.  C.  L.  to  the  other  honorary  titles  that 
have  been  bestowed  upon  him. 

The  Colonel's  subject  was  "  Biological  Analogies  in  History." 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

He  said :  "  An  American  who,  in  response  to  such  an  invitation  as  I 
have  received,  speaks  in  this  university  of  ancient  renown  cannot 
but  feel  with  peculiar  vividness  the  interest  and  charm  of  his  sur 
roundings,  fraught  as  they  are  with  a  thousand  associations.  Your 
great  universities,  and  all  the  memories  that  make  them  great,  are 
living  realities  in  the  minds  of  thousands  of  men  who  have  never 
seen  them  and  who  dwell  across  the  seas  in  other  lands.  Moreover, 
these  associations  are  no  stronger  in  the  men  of  English  stock  than 
in  those  who  are  not. 

"  My  people  have  been  for  eight  generations  in  America ;  but 
in  one  thing  I  am  like  the  Americans  of  to-morrow  rather  than  like 
the  many  of  the  Americans  of  to-day,  for  I  have  in  my  veins  the 
blood  of  men  who  came  from  many  different  European  races.  The 
athnic  make-up  of  our  people  is  slowly  changing,  so  that  constantly 
the  race  tends  to  become  more  and  more  akin  to  that  of  those 
Americans  who,  like  myself,  are  of  the  old  stock  but  not  mainly  of 
English  stock. 

MUTUAL  RESPECT,  UNDERSTANDING  AND  SYMPATHY. 

"  Yet  I  think  that,  as  time  goes  by,  mutual  respect,  understand 
ing,  and  sympathy  among  the  English-speaking  peoples  grow 
greater  and  not  less.  Any  of  my  ancestors,  Hollander  or  Hugue 
not,  Scotchman  or  Irishman,  who  had  come  to  Oxford  in  '  the  spac 
ious  days  of  great  Queen  Elizabeth/  would  have  felt  far  more 
alien  than  I,  their  descendant,  now  feel.  Common  heirship  in  the 
things  of  the  spirit  makes  a  closer  bond  than  common  heirship  in 
things  of  the  body. 

"  More  than  ever  before  in  the  world's  history,  we  of  to-day 
seek  to  penetrate  the  causes  of  the  mysteries  that  surround  not  only 
mankind  but  all  life,  both  in  the  present  and  the  past.  We  search, 
we  peer,  we  see  things  dimly;  here  and  there  we  get  a  ray  of  clear 
vision  as  we  look  before  and  after. 

"  We  study  the  tremendous  procession  of  the  ages,  from  the 
immemorial  past  when  in  '  cramp  elf  and  saurian  forms  '  the  creative 
forces  '  swathed  their  too-much  power/  down  to  the  yesterday,  a 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

few  thousand  years  distant  only,  when  the  history  of  man  became 
the  overwhelming  fact  in  the  history  of  life  on  this  planet;  and, 
studying,  we  see  strange  analogies  in  the  phenomena  of  life  and 
death,  of  birth,  growth,  and  change. 

"  It  is  this  study  which  has  given  science  its  present-day  prom 
inence.  In  the  world  of  intellect,  doubtless  the  most  marked  fea 
tures  in  the  history  of  the  past  century  have  been  the  extraordinary 
advances  in  scientific  knowledge  and  investigation  and  in  the  posi 
tion  held  by  the  men  of  science  with  reference  to  those  engaged  in 
other  pursuits. 

"  I  am  not  now  speaking  of  applied  science — of  the  science,  for 
instance,  which,  having  revolutionized  transportation  on  the  earth 
and  the  water,  is  now  on  the  brink  of  carrying  it  into  the  air ;  of  the 
science  that  finds  its  expression  in  such  extraordinary  achievements 
as  the  telephone  and  the  telegraph;  of  the  sciences  which  have  so 
accelerated  the  velocity  of  movement  in  social  and  industrial  condi 
tions — for  the  changes  in  the  mechanical  appliances  of  ordinary  life 
during  the  last  three  generations  have  been  greater  than  in  all  the 
preceding  generations  since  history  dawned. 

SCIENCE  CONTROLLED  BY  CONDITIONS. 

"  I  speak  of  the  science  which  has  no  more  direct  bearing  upon 
the  affairs  of  our  every-day  life  than  literature  or  music,  painting 
or  sculpture,  poetry  or  history. 

"  Now  I  am  willing  that  history  shall  be  treated  as  a  branch  of 
science,  but  only  on  condition  that  it  also  remains  a  branch  of 
literature;  and,  furthermore,  I  believe  that  as  the  field  of  science 
encroaches  on  the  field  of  literature,  there  should  be  a  corresponding 
encroachment  of  literature  upon  science ;  and  I  hold  that  one  of  the 
great  needs,  which  can  only  be  met  by  very  able  men  whose  culture  is 
broad  enough  to  include  literature  as  well  as  science,  is  the  need  of 
books  for  scientific  laymen.  We  need  a  literature  of  science  which 
shall  be  readable. 

"  So  far  from  doing  away  with  the  school  of  great  historians, 
the  school  of  Polybius  and  Tacitus,  Gibbon  and  Macaulay,  we  need 
M.  L.  B.  G.  ** 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

merely  that  the  future  writers  of  history,  without  losing  the  qualities 
which  have  made  those  men  great,  shall  also  utilize  the  new  facts 
and  new  methods  which  science  has  put  at  their  disposal. 

"  Rome  fell  by  attack  from  without,  only  because  the  ills  within 
her  own  borders  had  grown  incurable.  What  is  true  of  your  coun 
try,  my  hearers,  is  true  of  my  own;  while  we  should  be  vigilant 
against  foes  from  without,  yet  we  need  never  really  fear  them  so 
long  as  we  safe-guard  ourselves  against  the  enemies  within  our  own 
households;  and  these  enemies  are  our  own  passions  and  follies. 
Free  peoples  can  escape  being  mastered  by  others  only  by  being  able 
to  master  themselves. 

INTERNATIONAL  INTERESTS  INVOLVED. 

"We,  Americans,  and  you  people  of  the  British  Isles,  alike,  need 
ever  to  keep  in  mind  that,  among  the  many  qualities  indispensable 
to  the  success  of  a  great  democracy,  and  second  only  to  a  high  and 
stern  sense  of  duty,  of  moral  obligation,  are  self-knowledge  and  self- 
mastery.  You,  my  hosts,  and  I  may  not  agree  in  all  our  views ;  some 
of  you  would  think  me  a  very  radical  democrat — as,  for  the  matter 
of  that,  I  am ;  and  my  theory  of  imperialism  would  probably  suit  the 
anti-imperialists  as  little  as  it  would  suit  a  certain  type  of  feeble 
imperialist.  But  there  are  some  points  on  which  we  must  all  agree 
if  e  think  soundly. 

"  The  precise  form  of  government,  democratic  or  otherwise,  is 
the  instrument,  the  tool,  with  which  we  work.  It  is  important  to 
have  a  good  tool.  But,  even  if  it  is  the  best  possible,  it  is  only  a  tool. 
No  implement  can  ever  take  the  place  of  the  guiding  intelligence 
that  wields  it. 

"  There  are  questions  that  we  of  the  great  civilized  nations  are 
ever  tempted  to  ask  of  the  future.  Is  our  time  of  growth  drawing 
to  an  end?  Are  we  as  nations  soon  to  come  under  the  rule  of  that 
great  law  of  death  which  is  itself  but  part  of  the  great  law  of  life? 
None  can  tell.  Forces  that  we  can  see  and  other  forces  that  are 
hidden  or  that  can  but  dimly  be  apprehended  are  at  work  all  around 
us,  both  for  good  and  for  evil. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

"  After  the  French  Revolution  in  1830,  Niebuhr  hazarded  the 
guess  that  all  civilization  was  about  to  go  down  with  a  crash,  that 
we  were  all  about  to  share  the  fall  of  third  and  fourth  century. 
Rome — a  respectable  but  painfully  overworked  comparison.  The 
fears  once  expressed  by  the  followers  of  Malthus  as  to  the  future  of 
the  world  have  proved  groundless  as  regards  the  civilized  portion  of 
the  world;  it  is  strange  indeed  to  look  back  at  Carlyle's  prophecies 
of  some  seventy  years  ago,  and  then  think  of  the  teeming  life  of 
achievement,  the  life  of  conquest  of  every  kind,  and  of  noble  effort 
crowned  by  success,  which  has  been  ours  for  the  two  generations 
since  he  complained  to  high  Heaven  that  all  the  tales  had  been  told 
and  all  the  songs  sung,  and  that  all  the  deeds  really  worth  doing  had 
been  done. 

A  NATION'S  REVITALIZATION. 

"  A  nation  that  seemingly  dies  may  be  born  again ;  and  even 
though  in  the  physical  sense  it  die  utterly,  it  may  yet  hand  down  a 
history  of  heroic  achievement,  and  for  all  time  to  come  may  pro 
foundly  influence  the  nations  that  arise  in  its  place  by  the  impress  of 
what  it  has  done.  Best  of  all  is  it  to  do  our  part  well,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  see  our  blood  live  young  and  vital  in  men  and  women 
fit  to  take  up  the  task  as  we  lay  it  down ;  for  so  shall  our  seed  inherit 
the  earth. 

'''  While  freely  admitting  all  of  our  follies  and  weaknesses  of 
to-day,  it  is  yet  mere  perversity  to  refuse  to  realize  the  incredible 
advance  that  has  been  made  in  ethical  standards.  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  is  the  slightest  necessary  connection  between  any  awaken 
ing  of  virile  force  and  this  advance  in  the  moral  standard,  this 
growth  of  the  sense  of  obligation  to  one's  neighbor  and  of  reluctance 
to  do  that  neighbor  wrong. 

'''  Every  modern  civilized  nation  has  many  and  troublesome 
problems  to  solve  within  its  own  borders,  problems  that  arise  not 
merely  from  juxtaposition  of  poverty  and  riches,  but  especially  from 
the  self-consciousness  of  both  poverty  and  riches.  Each  nation 
must  deal  with  these  matters  in  its  own  fashion,  and  yet  the  spirit  in 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

which  the  problem  is  approached  must  ever  be  fundamentally  the 
same. 

"  It  must  be  a  spirit  of  broad  humanity;  of  brotherly  kindness; 
of  acceptance  of  responsibility,  one  for  each  and  each  for  all ;  and 
and  at  the  same  time  a  spirit  as  remote  as  the  poles  from  every  form 
of  weakness  and  sentimentality. 

"  As  in  war  to  pardon  the  coward  is  to  do  cruel  wrong  to  the 
brave  man  whose  life  his  cowardice  jeopardizes,  so  in  civil  affairs  it 
is  revolting  to  every  principle  of  justice  to  give  to  the  lazy,  the 
vicious,  or  even  the  feeble  and  dull-witted,  a  reward  which  is  really 
the  robbery  of  what  braver,  wiser,  abler  men  have  earned. 

SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  AND  SPECIAL  DUTIES  OF  OUR  OWN. 

"  But  in  addition  to  these  problems  the  most  intimate  and  im 
portant  of  all  which  to  a  larger  or  less  degree  affect  all  the  modern 
nations  somewhat  alike,  we  of  the  great  nations  that  have  expanded 
that  are  now  in  complicated  relations  with  one 'another  and  with 
alien  races,  have  special  problems  and  special  duties  of  our  own. 

"  You  belong  to  a  nation  which  possesses  the  greatest  empire 
upon  which  the  sun  has  ever  shone.  I  belong  to  a  nation  which  is 
trying,  on  a  'scale  hitherto  unexampled,  to  work  out  the  problems 
of  government  for,  of,  and  by  the  people,  while  at  the  same  time 
doing  the  international  duty  of  a  great  Power.  But  there  are  cer 
tain  problems  which  both  of  us  have  to  solve,  and  as  to  which  our 
standards  should  be  the  same. 

"  The  Englishman,  the  man  of  the  British  Isles,  in  his  various 
homes  across  the  seas,  and  the  American,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
are  brought  into  contact  with  utterly  alien  peoples,  some  with  a 
civilization  more  ancient  than  our  own,  others  still  in,  or  having 
recently  arisen  from,  the  barbarism  which  our  people  left  behind 
years  ago. 

"  This  is  what  our  peoples  have  in  the  main  done,  and  must  con 
tinue  to  do,  in  India,  Egypt,  and  the  Philippines  alike.  In  the  next 
place,  as  regards  every  race,  everywhere,  at  home  or  abroad,  we 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

cannot  afford  to  deviate  from  the  great  rule  of  righteousness  which 
bids  us  treat  each  man  on  his  worth  as  a  man. 

"  This  has  nothing  to  do  with  social  intermingling,  with  what 
is  called  social  equality.  It  has  to  do  merely  with  the  question  of 
doing  to  each  man  and  each  woman  that  elementary  justice  which 
will  permit  him  or  her  to  gain  from  life  the  reward  which  should 
always  accompany  thrift,  sobriety,  self-control,  respect  for  the  rights 
of  others,  and  hard  and  intelligent  work  to  a  given  end. 

"  The  foreign  policy  of  a  great  and  self-respecting  country 
should  be  conducted  on  exactly  the  same  plane  of  honor,  of  insistence 
upon  one's  own  rights  and  of  a  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  as 
when  a  brave  and  honorable  man  is  dealing  with  his  fellows. 

THE  COLONEL'S  PERSONAL  HONOR. 

"  Permit  me  to  support  this  statement  out  of  my  own  experi 
ence.  For  nearly  eight  years  I  was  the  head  of  a  great  nation  and 
charged  especially  with  the  conduct  of  its  foreign  policy ;  and  during 
those  years  I  took  no  action  with  reference  to  any  other  people  on 
the  face  of  the  earth  that  I  would  not  have  felt  justified  in  taking  as 
an  individual  in  dealing  with  other  individuals. 

"  I  believe  that  we,  of  the  great  civilized  nations  of  to-day, 
have  a  right  to  feel  that  long  careers  of  achievement  lie  before  our 
several  countries.  To  each  of  us  is  vouchsafed  the  honorable  privi 
lege  of  doing  his  part,  however  small,  in  that  work. 

"  Let  us  strive  heartily  for  success,  even  if  by  so  doing  we  risk 
failure,  spurning  the  poorer  souls  of  small  endeavor  who  know 
neither  failure  nor  success.  Let  us  hope  that  our  own  blood  shall 
continue  in  the  land,  that  our  children  and  children's  children  to 
endless  generations  shall  rise  to  take  our  places  and  play  a  mighty 
and  dominant  part  in  the  world.  But  whether  this  be  denied  or 
granted  by  the  years  we  shall  not  see,  let  at  least  the  satisfaction  be 
ours  that  we  have  carried  onward  the  lighted  torch  in  our  own  day. 
and  generation. 

"  If  we  do  this,  then,  as  our  eyes  close,  and  we  go  out  into  the 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

darkness,  and  other  hands  grasp  the  torch,  at  least  we  can  say  that 
our  part  has  been  borne  well  and  valiantly." 

There  were  more  applications  for  admission  to  hear  Colonel 
Roosevelt's  lecture  at  Oxford  than  when  Mr.  Gladstone  gave  the 
first  Romanes  lecture  and  the  theatre  was  fuller  than  when  Prof. 
Huxley  gave  the  second  lecture  or  when  Mr.  Balfour  gave  the 
lecture  in  November,  1909. 

As  Colonel  Roosevelt  stood  before  the  chancellor,  Lord  Curzon, 
the  latter  addressed  three  Latin  hexameters  to  him,  which  trans 
lated  were : 

"  Behold,  vice-chancellor,  the  promised  wright 
Before  whose  coming  comets  turned  to  flight 
And  all  the  startled  mouths  of  sevenfold  Nile  took  fright." 

Lord  Curzon  then  addressed  Colonel  Roosevelt,  his  first  word 
"  strenuissime "  being  declaimed  in  an  indescribably  whimsical 
fashion,  which  brought  a  roar  of  laughter.  The  address  was  spoken 
in  Latin.  It  may  be  translated : 

LORD  CURZON'S  ADDRESS. 

"  Most  strenuous  of  men,  most  distinguished  of  citizens  to-day 
playing  a  part  on  the  stage  of  the  world,  you  who  have  twice  admin 
istered  with  purity  the  first  magistracy  of  the  great  republic  and  may 
perhaps  administer  it  a  third  time,  peer  of  most  august  kings,  queller 
of  men,  destroyer  of  monsters,  wherever  found,  yet  most  human  of 
mankind,  deeming  nothing  indifferent  to  you,  not  even  the  blackest 
of  the  black,  I  by  my  authority  and  that  of  the  whole  University 
admit  you  to  the  degree  of  doctor  of  civil  law,  honoris  causa." 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  last  day  in  England  was  one  of  seclusion 
and  rest.  He  was  the  guest  of  Sir  Edward  Grey  at  the  latter's 
home  in  Hampshire  and  together  the  two  tramped  through  New 
Forest,  the  ancient  royal  hunting  grounds,  rich  in  its  fauna  and  flora, 
and  of  absorbing  interest  to  entomologists. 

In  characteristic  fashion  Colonel  Roosevelt  deprived  Londoners 
of  the  opportunity  of  giving  him  a  sendoff.  Before  the  people  were 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

aware  of  his  intention  he  had  left  the  city,  and  not  a  dozen  persons 
knew  the  time  or  the  manner  of  his  departure. 

When  the  Colonel  arrived  at  Southampton  in  the  morning  he 
immediately  joined  his  family  and  then  the  entire  party  went  to  the 
steamship  dock.  There  was  a  large  crowd  waiting,  and  he  was 
greeted  by  the  Mayor  and  the  Sheriff  of  Southampton.  To  the 
Mayor  the  former  President  said : 

'  I  would  like  to  express  through  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  my  thanks 
to  the  people  of  this  country  for  the  way  in  which  I  have  been  re 
ceived  and  to  say  what  pleasant  memories  I  shall  always  retain  of 
the  last  portion  of  my  sojourn  in  England. 

"  Of  course,  it  was  begun  under  the  saddest  of  circumstances. 
When  I  came  as  the  representative  of  my  people  to  express  their 
sympathy  for  your  country  in  its  hour  of  affliction  I  was  glad  to 
have  the  chance  of  being  the  American  representative  here  at  such 
a  time ;  and  since  then  your  people  have  received  me  with  such  cor 
dial  and  courteous  hospitality  that  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  my 
appreciation  in  words." 

After  cordial  farewells  to  Sir  Edward  Grey,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Arthur  H.  Lee,  formerly  Military  Attache  of  the  British  Embassy 
at  Washington,  and  other  friends  who  had  come  to  say  good-by,  the 
Roosevelts  embarked  upon  a  tender  and  were  carried  out  to  the 
Kaiserin  Auguste  Victoria.  The  vessel  sailed  soon  after  they  had 
gone  aboard. 

ROOSEVELT  MADE  "  HIT "  AS  STOKER  ON  OCEAN  LINER. 

Every  one  of  the  great  number  of  people  aboard  the  huge 
Kaiserin  Auguste  Victoria  had  a  chance  to  see  and  hear  Colonel 
Roosevelt. 

On  June  15,  he  completed  his  round  of  the  ship  by  a  visit  to 
the  stokehold  where  he  grasped  the  grimy  hands  of  the  stokers 
and  chatted  with  them  as  though  they  were  the  crew  of  his  own 
private  yacht. 

The  visit  to  the  stokehold  was  one  of  the  most  interesting 
events  of  the  trip,  and  the  stokers  did  their  best  to  show  their 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

appreciation  of  the  honor.  Those  who  were  on  the  off  shift  tidied 
themselves  up  as  much  as  possible,  but  Roosevelt  seemed  even 
more  anxious  to  shake  the  hands  of  those  who  were  actually 
engaged  in  feeding  the  huge  furnaces.  As  one  of  these  laid  down 
his  shovel,  Roosevelt  grabbed  it  up  and  showed  that  he  knew 
something  about  the  knack  of  stoking  by  "  sifting  "  several  shovels 
of  coal  over  the  glowing  bed  of  coals. 

The  stokers  cheered  the  Colonel  heartily  when  they  saw  that 
he  was  "  one  of  them."  The  captain  of  the  ship  accompanied  the 
colonel  on  his  rounds  through  the  stokehold. 

After  his  visit  below  he  held  an  informal  reception  on  deck 
for  the  first  and  second  class  passengers.  This  with  his  visit  to 
the  steerage  on  the  preceding  Sunday,  cleaned  up  the  colonel's 
reception  list.  All  aboard  ship  claimed  personal  acquaintance 
with  their  distinguished  fellow  passenger. 

The  Colonel's  Guildhall  speech  led  to  a  long  discussion  of 
Egyptian  affairs  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  June  13,  the  Con 
servatives  demanding  to  know  what  course  the  Ministers  proposed 
to  pursue,  and  some  of  the  members  denouncing  what  they  termed 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  interference. 

Arthur  J.  Balfour,  leader  of  the  Opposition,  expressed  warm 
appreciation  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  sympathetic  and  kindly  treatment 
of  the  subject.  There  was  nothing  in  the  speech,  he  said,  to 
which  the  most  sensitive  Briton  could  take  exception.  The  situa 
tion  in  Egypt,  he  declared,  called  for  prompt  action,  and  he  hoped 
the  government  would  take  steps  to  give  support  to  the  British 
representatives  there,  without  which  they  will  be  helpless. 

Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  Foreign  Secretary,  replying  to  the 
criticisms  in  behalf  of  the  Government,  announced  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  speech  had  been  communicated  to  him  before  it  was 
delivered.  He  had  seldom  listened  to  a  speech  with  greater 
pleasure.  Its  friendly  intention,  he  said,  was  obvious,  and,  taken 
as  a  whole,  it  was  the  greatest  compliment  to  the  work  of  on* 
country  ever  paid  by  a  citizen  of  another. 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT  IN  ENGLAND. 

'  The  Daily  Mail  "  printed  a  long  summary  of  some  of  the  im 
pressions  Colonel  Roosevelt  derived  from  his  tour  as  recorded  in 
several  conversations  with  a  well-known  writer.  The  manner  in 
which  his  Guildhall  speech  was  received  convinced  Colonel  Roose 
velt  that  he  was  fully  justified  in  delivering  it.  It  also  increased 
his  respect  for  the  nation,  which  was  not  too  proud  to  listen  to 
criticism  as  well  as  praise.  He  expressed  warm  admiration  for  the 
public  men  he  met  and  of  the  attitude  of  the  nation. 

So  long  as  British  public  men  keep  their  high  ideals  of  public 
duty  and  so  long  as  Britons  breed  a  race  of  tall,  straight,  clean 
limbed  men  and  gentle,  sweet- faced  women,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said 
he  would  not  heed  the  rumors  of  creeping  paralysis  and  would  not 
believe  that  the  British  empire  was  anywhere  near  an  end. 

The  Colonel  declared  that  all  over  Europe  he  found  evidence 
that  ethical  standards  were  higher  probably  than  ever  was  known 
before.  Ideas  which  are  religious  in  the  highest  sense  are  spread 
ing.  The  rulers  of  every  land  were  inspired  by  noble  purposes  and 
a  strong  sense  of  duty  of  which  very  few  examples  could  be  drawn 
from  earlier  times. 

Regarding  Colonel  Roosevelt's  future  the  correspondent  said: 
'  The  Colonel  intends  to  work  away  quietly  at  his  conservation 
policies.  He  has  no  intention  to  live  in  the  public  eye,  and  if  it  were 
left  to  himself  to  decide  he  would  not  think  of  a  third  Presidential 
term  as  even  a  possibility.  The  question  is  whether  the  people  of 
the  United  States  will  not  decide  it  for  him. 

"  He  would  be  quite  content  to  live  his  life  quietly  and  happily 
in  his  home  and  with  his  friends.  With  a  thousand  interests  to 
keep  his  mind  active  and  his  sympathies  keen  no  man  was  ever  less 
dependent  upon  the  excitement  and  rewards  of  public  life.  He 
could  do  without  them  perfectly  well." 

The  correspondent,  however,  found  it  inconceivable  that  the. 
world  would  not  make  further  demands  upon  such  a  man.  He  con 
cluded  enthusiastically :  "  If  America  were  so  unappreciative  of 
greatness  as  not  to  call  on  him  further,  let  us  have  him  back  in 
Europe." 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

RECEPTION  UNEQUALLED  IN  COUNTRY'S  HISTORY  ACCORDED  RE 
TURNING    HERO — MILLIONS    CHEER.    HIM — GUNS    ROAR — 
WHISTLES  SHRIEK  GRAND  GREETINGS  ON  LAND  AND  WATER 
—PAGEANTS  MARK  His  TRIUMPHANT  RETURN. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  the  most  distinguished  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  is  once  more  at  home.  He  was  received 
at  New  York  with  the  nearest  approach  we  can  arrange  to  the  tri 
umphs  with  which  Rome  honored  its  generals  on  returning  from  a 
conquest  of  the  world.  Theodore  Roosevelt  has  stirred  Africa  and 
Asia  and  has  conquered  Europe  and  the  American  people  could  not 
with  self-respect  pay  less  honors  to  their  most  striking  representa 
tive  and  embodiment  than  he  had  received  from  foreigners. 

The  people  like  him.  They  like  him  for  his  frankness,  his 
colloquial  language,  his  free  and  easy  air,  his  lack  of  conventionality 
and  ceremony  and  officialism.  Perhaps  they  liked  him  best  of  all 
because  the  national  traits  are  uncommonly  well  developed  in  him. 
He  presents  strikingly  the  national  virtues.  He  is  strong,  breezy, 
good  humored  and  quick  in  resentment,  informal  and  can  on  occa 
sions  be  chiding  and  reproving. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  popularity  is  enormous  and  it  is  deserved.  It 
is  creditable  to  the  American  people  that  they  like  him,  even  if  he 
has  limitations,  and  some  of  them  rather  conspicuous.  He  was 
honored  in  Europe  because  he  was  an  ex-President  of  the  United 
States,  but  they  liked  him  personally.  Undeniably  he  made  a  tre 
mendous  impression  all  the  way  from  Cairo  to  Oxford.  He  added 
to  our  national  prestige. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a  man  of  great  force  and  of  uncommonly 
likable  .qualities.  His  countrymen  are  proud  of  him  and  they  are 
immensely  pleased  that  he  made  so  much  of  a  sensation  in  Europe. 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

The  following  appeared  in  the  editorial  column  of  the  New 
York  Times :  "  New  York's  welcome  to  the  returning  ex-President 
of  the  United  States  will  fitly  represent  the  feeling  of  the  whole 
country  for  its  most  illustrious  citizen.  Whatever  of  political  pur 
pose  may  underlie  the  great  civic  demonstration,  there  is  no  doubt 
of  the  sincerity  of  the  public's  esteem  and  affection  for  Mr.  Roose 
velt,  which  it  so  vociferously  demonstrated.  His  compatriots  are 
not  all  of  one  mind  as  to  his  ability  as  a  constructive  statesman,  and 
the  value  of  his  services  to  the  Nation.  But  while  his  faults  may 
be  obvious,  his  merits  are  equally  clear,  and  they  are  of  a  kind  that 
appeals  strongly  to  the  sentiment  of  the  American  multitude. 

THE  COLONEL  UNDER  NO  OBLIGATION  TO  THE  PRESS. 

"  As  for  the  publicity  accorded  the  world  over  to  every  act  and 
utterance  of  the  ex-President,  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  he  has  done 
much  .more  for  the  newspaper  press  than  the  press  has  ever  done  for 
him.  He  is  the  most  alert,  interesting,  and  conspicuous  private 
citizen  in  the  world.  He  is  accounted  by  many  the  greatest  man 
of  his  era  in  this  country,  by  some  enthusiasts  the  greatest  in  its 
history,  and  he  has  won  this  superlative  measure  of  esteem,  not  by 
any  deliberate  bid  for  public  approval,  not  by  craftily  ministering 
to  supposed  popular  prejudice,  but  by  his  broad  humanity,  his  un 
questionable  patriotism,  the  wholesome  cleanliness  of  his  life,  his 
mental  as  well  as  physical  vigor,  and  his  courage.  Few  can  help 
sharing  in  the  enthusiasm  of  his  welcome. 

"  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  been  absent  nearly  fifteen  months.  Much 
of  this  time  was  spent  in  the  African  wilds  amid  the  rigors  of 
primitive  life  which  few  of  his  fellow-citizens  would  care  to  en 
counter.  He  has  since  been  received  with  tremendous  acclaim  in 
nearly  every  European  State,  and,  unlike  most  travelers,  has  been 
giving  rather  than  receiving  impressions.  His  utterances  have 
been  eagerly  heard  and  widely  reported.  The  small  amount  of 
hostile  criticism,  of  equally  small  importance,  inspired  by  his  im 
pulsive  speaking  has  been  lost  in  a  great  chorus  of  praise. 

"  Academic  and  civic  honors  have  been  showered  upon  him, 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

and,  although  he  has  borne  himself  always  as  the  plain  American 
citizen,  he  has  received  the  tribute  generally  paid  in  Europe  only  to 
royalty.  No  other  citizen  has  ever  caused  such  a  furor  abroad. 
Yet  except  for  a  few  startling  sentences  in  his  speeches  at  Cairo 
and  at  the  Guildhall  in  London,  he  has  expressed  only  those  ideas  of 
human  progress  and  the  requirements  of  modern  civilization  he  has 
often  expressed  before,  and  has  been,  in  every  aspect,  the  Roosevelt 
we  have  known  so  long. 

:<  Politics,  as  we  have  said,  played  but  an  insignificant  part  in 
his  reception.  The  programme  of  the  ceremony  had  been  in  pre 
paration  a  long  time,  to  be  sure.  But  the  enthusiasm  displayed  was 
not  of  the  quality  that  can  be  artificially  stimulated.  We  must  take 
it  as  a  spontaneous  outpouring  of  popular  feeling. 

COMMENT  OF   A  WELL-KNOWN  PHILADELPHIA  EDITOR. 

The  following  article  was  written  by  a  w7ell-known  Philadelphia 
editor :  "  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  eyes  of  the  nation  are 
turned  toward  New  York.  It  is  equally  within  the  truth  to  say  that 
the  sturdy,  vigorous  American  whose  home-coming  was  marked 
by  such  an  outburst  of  tumultuous  enthusiasm  has  even  a  greater 
degree  of  popularity  and  influence  among  the  masses  of  his  own 
countrymen  than  when  he  left  the  soil  of  this  Republic  on  the  tour 
which  has  taken  him  over  half  the  world. 

"  Absence  has  not  diminished  his  prestige,  but  increased  it. 
Whether  Roosevelt  has  been  facing  lions  in  Africa,  meeting  mon- 
archs  in  Europe,  or  admonishing  distinguished  audiences  in  the  older 
centres  of  civilization,  his  acts  and  words  have  been  keenly  noted 
by  a  large  majority  of  the  nation  over  which  he  presided  as  Chief 
Magistrate.  Distance  has  magnified  his  personality,  emphasized 
the  aggressive  virility  which  is  his  foremost  characteristic,  and  added 
to  the  interest  with  which  he  has  been  regarded. 

'  This  is  an  undeniable  fact.  It  cannot  be  questioned  by  those 
who  oppose  his  policies  and  condemn  his  methods  as  a  public  leader. 
It  is  accepted  with  jubilation  by  the  enormously  greater  host  of 
those  who  attach  little  importance  to  errors  that  he  has  committed, 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

but  who  look  upon  him  as  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  the  common 
people,  the  determined  foe  of  unjust  privilege,  and  the  militant 
exemplar  of  civic  righteousness.  It  is  a  remarkable  position  which 
Roosevelt  occupies  and  one  that  has  great  opportunities  for  useful 
service." 

The  New  York  greeters  poured  into  New  York  City  by  the 
thousands.  New  York  never  really  knows  when  it  is  crowded. 
That  is  why  the  resident  who  strolls  the  streets  casually  doesn't 
know  that  the  town  is  filling  up  like  a  balloon. 

Down  in  the  Wall  Street  section  were  hundreds  of  a  decidedly 
Western  aspect  sauntering  through  streets  where  the  New  Yorker 
always  feels  that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  walk  at  a  third  sped  clip. 
They  were  seen  also,  thousands  of  them,  in  upper  Broadway  and 
Fifth  Avenue. 

The  clerks  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  hotels  had  their  troubles.  All 
the  clubs  from  out  of  town  wanted  outside  rooms  in  the  Fifth 
Avenue  hotels,  and  they  wanted  rooms  on  the  lower  floors.  It  was 
not  their  purpose  to  stand  in  line  along  the  curb  as  the  Colonel  passes. 
It  was  their  intention  to  greet  him  joyously  from  the  windows,  from 
which  they  waved  flags  and  sent  forth  wild  yells  of  greeting. 

THE  ROUGH  RIDERS'  HEADQUARTERS. 

The  Rough  Riders,  strangely  enough,  were  quartered  in  the 
staid  Buckingham,  at  Fiftieth  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  The 
Buckingham  is  what  one  might  term  a  hotel  of  the  old  school.  The 
wild  and  breezy  atmosphere  that  the  Rough  Riders  bring  with  them 
appeared  strangely  out  of  place  in  this  placid  place  of  abode. 

Fifty  former  members  of  the  Rough  Riders  swept  into  the 
hotel  as  if  they  were  charging  up  San  Juan  Hill  again.  Twenty- 
five,  including  Colonel  "  Aleck  "  O.  Brodie,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  who 
succeeded  Colonel  Roosevelt  as  commander  of  the  regiment,  arrived 
in  advance  of  the  others,  and  there  were  some  fifty  or  more  who 
live  in  and  near  New  York.  They  were  all  there,  and  such  a  round 
of  handshaking  the  hotel  clerks  admit  they  never  saw  before.  San 
Juan  Hill  was  recaptured  a  dozen  times  between  6  and  1 1  o'clock. 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

Captain  Arthur  F.  Cosby,  in  the  dual  capacity  of  a  Rough 
Rider  and  secretary  of  the  Roosevelt  Reception  Committee,  was  on 
hand  with  Colonel  Brodie  to  welcome  the  newcomers,  most  of  whom 
had  arrived  on  the  special  car  in  which  they  traveled  from  St.  Louis. 
They  stopped  over  in  Washington  a  few  hours  to  meet  President 
Taft. 

The  newcomers  had  some  rare  experiences  to  tell  when  they 
had  begun  to  unbosom  themselves.  But  the  talk  lingered  longest 
about  Theodora,  the  new  daughter  of  the  regiment,  less  than  forty- 
eight  hours  old,  with  a  bank  account  of  $41.  This  is  how  she  came 
to  be  the  daughter  of  the  regiment : 

While  the  train  was  speeding  east  between  St.  Louis  and  Cin 
cinnati  a  baby  girl  was  born  in  the  coach  just  ahead  of  that  bringing 
the  Rough  Riders.  Several  of  the  wives  of  the  Rough  Riders  heard 
the  news,  and  "  Bill  "  McGinty,  described  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  as 
the  best  broncho-buster  in  the  world;  Louis  Maverick,  of  San 
Antonio,  Texas,  whose  father  gave  his  name  to  unbranded  cattle, 
and  a  lot  of  the  others  formed  a  committee  to  start  the  young  woman 
in  life  \vith  a  bank  account. 

AN  ADOPTED   BABY  GIRL  IS  NAMED    "THEODORA." 

When  the  wives  of  the  Rough  Riders  conveyed  the  purse  to  the 
mother  and  told  her  the  Rough  Riders  wanted  to  adopt  the  little 
pink  stranger  and  name  her  Theodora  in  honor  of  the  great 
"  Theodore,"  the  mother  sent  back  word  that  she  would  be  "  de 
lighted." 

Many  of  the  Rough  Riders  wrung  the  hand  of  Warren  Crockett 
until  his  knuckles  cracked.  Crockett  is  a  deputy  collector  of  internal 
revenue  in  Marietta,  Ga.,  and  for  the  eleven  years  since  the  war  ha& 
been  chasing  moonshiners  in  the  mountains  of  that  State.  He 
arrived  in  New  York  ten  days  in  advance  of  the  Colonel's  arrival, 
and  went  to  Yonkers  to  visit  some  friends,  when  he  Was  taken  ill. 
They  put  him  in  a  hospital,  and  the  doctor  told  him  he  was  still 
suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  yellow  fever  he  caught  in  Cuba, 
with  a  touch  of  appendicitis. 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

"  But  I  am  going  to  ride  in  that  parade  on  Saturday,"  Crockett 
told  the  doctor.  But  the  doctor  said  if  he  did  it  might  kill  him. 

"  I  lay  there  two  or  three  days,"  Crockett  said  in  telling  about 
it,  "  and  then  when  the  doctor  wasn't  about  and  the  nurses  weren't 
over  watchful  I  slipped  on  my  clothes  and  here  I  am.  And  I  am 
going  to  ride  in  that  parade  if  it  does  kill  me." 

Among  those  at  the  Buckingham  was  Captain  Martin  Crim- 
mins,  U.  S.  A.,  son  of  John  D.  Crimmins,  of  New  York.  Captain 
Crimmins,  who  is  an  old  Rough  Rider,  was  on  his  way  to  Alaska, 
where  he  has  been  ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  War  on  special  duty. 

And  then  there  was  Guilford  Chapin. 

"  Look  at  that  little  cuss.  He  was  the  oldest  man  in  the  regi 
ment.  Look  at  the  beard  on  him.  We  called  him  grandfather," 
said  one  Rough  Rider. 

OLDEST  MAN  IN  THE  REGIMENT. 

"  Yes,"  said  Chapin,  "  that's  my  name,  G-u-i-1-f-o-r-d  Chapin," 
from  Nutriosis,  Arizona.  Yes,  sir,  I  reckon  I  was  the  oldest  man 
in  the  regiment.  I'm  sixty-three  now;  that  makes  me  fifty-one 
when  I  went  in.  But  I  didn't  tell  'em  that.  I  didn't  go  back  to  the 
Bible.  I  gave  my  military  age,  forty-two — just  right  to  slip  in." 

Among  the  Rough  Riders  from  New  Mexico  were  former 
Governor  George  Curry,  of  New  Nexico,  who  was  a  captain  in  the 
regiment;  Major  W.  H.  H.  Llewellyn,  Lieutenant  D.  J.  Leahy  and 
Captain  Fred  Muller. 

Curry  had  led  an  active  life  since  the  war.  He  went  out  to  the 
Philippines  in  the  volunteer  army,  became  Governor  in  turn  of  three 
provinces,  and  was  chief  of  police  in  Manila  for  three  years.  He 
was  engaged  in  writing  his  reminiscences  of  the  Philippines. 

Captain  Muller  brought  along  the  flag  which  was  presented  by 
the  ladies  of  New  Mexico  to  the  second  squadron  of  the  regiment. 

"  New7  Mexico  furnished  more  than  300  of  the  1,200  Rough 
Riders,"  said  Curry.  "  It's  a  pretty  long  way  for  our  boys  to  travel 
to  get  to  the  reunion,  but  all  the  boys  would  have  liked  to  get  here." 

The  morning  mist  hung  low  over  the  bay  when  the  Kaiserin 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

Aaguste  Victoria,  the  Hamburg  American  Liner  that  bore  the 
former  President  loomed  up  at  Sandy  Hook.  It  was  just  6.30 
when  the  press  tug  J.  K.  Gilkinson  sighted  the  incoming  steamer, 
and  a  few  minutes  afterward  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  boomed 
forth  from  the  gray  battleship  South  Carolina.  Five  torpedo  boat 
destroyers,  the  Flusser,  Reid,  Smith,  Lamson  and  Preston  were 
hovering  around  as  a  naval  escort  for  the  liner. 

Decked  out  from  stem  to  stern  with  flags  of  every  color  and 
nation  the  Kaiserin  dropped  her  anchor  off  Quarantine  at  7.55. 
Another  salute  for  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  boomed  from  the  muzzles 
of  Fort  Wadsworth,  and  he  stood  gazing  till  the  last  flicker  of  smoke 
had  died  away. 

WELCOMED  BY  THE  RECEPTION  COMMITTEE. 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  Kermit,  Theodore,  Jr.,  Mrs. 
Alice  Longworth,  and  Miss  Alexander,  the  fiancee  of  young  Roose 
velt,  with  half  a  dozen  intimate  friends  were  in  earnest  converse  on 
the  deck  of  the  Manhattan  with  the  returning  big  game  hunter  a  few 
moments  afterward.  The  committee  boat  Androscoggin  with  Cor 
nelius  Vanderbilt  and  a  couple  of  hundred  members  of  the  Reception 
Committee  named  by  Mayor  Gaynor  was  speeding  down  the  bay 
and  at  8.45  a  gangplank  was  swung  from  the  Manhattan  to  the 
committee  boat. 

From  every  point  of  the  compass  steamers  were  coming  up  to 
witness  the  debarkation  of  Colonel  Roosevelt  from  the  Manhattan. 
The  air  reverberated  with  the  shrieks  of  steam  whistles  and  cheers 
could  be  heard  on  every  side.  All  eyes  were  on  the  silk-hatted, 
frock-coated  figure  of  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

As  the  gangplank  was  made  fast  he  looked  up  and  beamed  at 
the  row  of  committee  members  leaning  over  the  Androscoggin's  side. 
Suddenly  he  made  a  dash  t  ward  Collector  Loeb. 

"  Hey,  Billy,  Billy,"  he  cried,  startling  his  former  secretary 
with  the  suddenness  of  the  call,  "  Don't  forget  my  overcoat." 

A  little  laugh  went  round  the  boats  as  the  faithful  Loeb  took 
charge  of  the  coat,  and  then  while  another  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL   ROOSEVELT. 

split  the  ears  from  the  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Roosevelt  made  his  way 
to  the  deck  of  the  Androscoggin.  A  cheer  that  was  taken  up  by 
thousands  of  throats  on  the  nearby  vessels  rang  from  end  to  end  of 
the  committee  boat. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  as  chairman  of  the  committee,  met  the 
home-coming  hunter  at  the  starboard  gangway.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
extended  his  hand,  but  Mr.  Vanderbilt  held  back  for  a  moment. 

"  As  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  by  Mayor  Gaynor  to 
receive  you  on  your  return,"  said  Mr.  Vanderbilt  in  a  quiet  tone, 
while  every  other  voice  on  board  was  stilled,  "  I  have  the  honor  of 
presenting  you  with  this  badge  on  behalf  of  the  committee." 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  opened  a  little  black  case  and  took  out  a  gold 
medal  similar  to  the  badges  worn  by  members  of  the  committee 
This  he  pinned  on  the  lapel  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  coat,  and  then  he 
shook  the  Colonel's  hand. 

UNABLE  TO  EXPRESS  HIS  APPRECIATION. 

The  ex-President  bared  his  head  and  his  sun-tanned  cheeks 
glowed  with  pride.  With  the  incisive  manner  that  characterizes 
his  speech,  punctuated  by  snaps  of  his  square  jaws,  he  replied : 

"  I'm  sure  I  am  glad  to  thank  you  and  to  see  you.  I  appreciate 
all  the  committee  has  done.  I  cannot  express  myself  with  sufficient 
emphasis  and  appreciation." 

A  volley  of  cheers  marked  the  end  of  the  little  speech  and 
Col.  Roosevelt  was  hurried  through  the  surging  throng  of  reporters 
and  committee  men  to  the  stern  of  the  Androscoggin.  There,  stand 
ing  under  an  awning,  he  began  a  reception. 

Meantime  in  the  still  waters  of  the  harbor  there  was  a  great 
churning  of  screws  and  paddles  and  the  water  parade  began  to  form 
in  line.  The  revenue  steamers  Calumet  and  Hudson  led  the  pro 
cession,  and  between  them,  a  little  astern,  came  the  U.  S.  steamer 
Dolphin,  Secretary  Meyer's  boat.  The  battleship  South  Carolina, 
a  great  wave  rolling  from  her  bow,  steamed  gray  and  forbidding 
behind  the  Dolphin,  followed  by  the  torpedo  boat  destroyers  and 
two  patrol  boats. 

M.  L.  B.  G.  *** 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

When  so  much  of  the  line  had  been  formed  the  Androscoggin 
slowly  turned  her  nose  toward  the  North  River  and  set  out  in  pur 
suit.  The  revenue  steamer  Seneca,  with  another  load  of  committee 
members  and  a  battalion  of  newspaper  men  and  photographers, 
st,eamed  along  behind  in  line  with  the  Mohawk,  another  revenue 
steamer,  and  back  of  them  came  the  Manhattan  with  the  family  and 
intimate  friends  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  on  board. 

That  closed  the  official  list  of  parading  vessels,  but  in  a  line 
that  stretched  for  miles  back  of  the  Manhattan  was  the  Albany  and 
a  fleet  of  private  yachts,  tugboats  and  other  vessels  under  command 
of  Commodore  F.  B.  Dalzell,  on  board  the  tug  Dalzelline.  As  the 
Androscoggin  steamed  leisurely  up  the  river  the  twelve  divisions 
of  following  vessels  made  a  magnificent  tail  to  the  procession, 
dressed  up  in  multi-colored  bunting. 

THE  COLONEL  HOLDS  A  RECEPTION. 

All  interest  was  centred  in  the  group  at  the  stern  of  the  Andro 
scoggin.  There,  flanked  by  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  Captain 
Cosby,  the  secretary  of  the  committee,  with  Collector  Loeb  and 
Commodore  R.  A.  C.  Smith  standing  in  front  of  him,  Colonel  Roose 
velt  was  busy  shaking  hands  and  greeting  those  on  board  as  they 
passed  in  line  before  him. 

Captain  Cosby  alone  of  the  committee  was  not  attired  in  the 
traditional  frock  coat.  An  old  Rough  Rider,  he  had  donned  the 
uniform  of  the  corps  for  the  occasion,  and  the  Colonel  slapped  him 
on  the  back  and  shook  him  with  both  hands  in  sheer  glee  at  the  sight 
of  the  beloved  khaki. 

An  old  friend  of  the  Democratic  side  of  the  House  to  be  wel 
comed  was  James  W.  Oliver,  the  Assemblyman  known  as  "  Paradise 
Jimmy."  Oliver  looked  ill  as  he  stepped  up  to  clasp  the  Colonel's 
hand.  He  was  met  with  a  handclasp  as  gentle  as  a  woman's,  yet 
full  of  the  characteristic  Rooseveltian  heartiness. 

"  Ah,  Jimmy,"  said  Mr.  Roosevelt,  "  it's  really  a  pleasure  to 
see  you  again  and  have  you  welcome  me.  How  goes  it  with  you? 
He  and  I,  you  know,"  was  added,  with  a  glance  at  the  reporters, 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

"  were  together  in  the  Legislature  in  the  old  days,  and  I  can  tell  you 
we  never  allowed  the  Constitution  to  come  between  friends.  Did 
we,  Jimmy?"  Another  clasp  of  the  hand  and  Oliver  had  given  way 
to  another  committeeman. 

There  passed  before  him  fully  two  hundred  men,  Governors, 
soldiers,  lawyers,  secretaries,  bankers — men  of  many  walks  in  life. 
For  each  he  had  a  little  word  as  he  gave  the  strenuous  handclasp. 
For  Governor  Fort  of  New  Jersey  Mr.  Roosevelt's  welcome  was 
particularly  hearty,  and  he  caused  a  laugh  when  a  young  man  an 
nounced  himself  as  from  the  University  of  California. 

"  That  university  ought  to  be  mighty  grateful  to  me,"  said  the 
Colonel,  "  for  I  sent  it  an  elephant.  The  first  time  such  a  gift  was 
ever  made  to  a  university,  I  believe,  and  furthermore,  it  was  not  a 
white  one." 

A  WORD  FOR  EVERYBODY. 

President  Miller  of  Bronx  Borough  got  a  hearty  greeting,  just 
as  did  Beverly  Robinson,  lawyer,  who  was  reminded  that  he  was 
with  Roosevelt  on  Marcy  Mountain  when  the  news  of  the  shooting 
of  President  McKinley  reached  them.  The  newspaper  men  got  a 
kind  word,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt  spoke  of  having  "  four  of  the  elect 
of  the  guild  "  with  him  as  constant  companions  "  from  way  above 
Khartoum." 

Walter  S.  Page,  publisher,  was  told  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
"  wanted  to  see  him  soon  about  that  book,"  and  a  professorlike  man 
was  assured :  "  Yes,  I  like  my  Romanes  lecture  the  best  of  all.  It 
was  the  more  finished."  Brig.-Gen.  Wingate  was  informed  that  the 
Sirdar  of  Egypt  had  sent  his  best  regards;  Henry  Clews  was 
greeted  and  told  to  give  his  daughter  "  my  best  love ;"  Frank  Tyree, 
a  former  Secret  Service  agent,  was  reminded  of  old  days;  Joseph 
Murray,  a  Republican  district  leader,  was  thanked  for  having  been 
Roosevelt's  sponsor  in  political  matters  as  a  youth,  and  Gov.  Mills 
of  New  Mexico,  was  thanked  for  coming  so  far.  To  a  man  who 
who  wanted  him  to  come  out  to  Arizona,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said: 

"  Yes,  I  feel  fine,  and  I  can't  look  as  fine  as  I  feel ;  but,  there  are 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

limits  to  my  physical  powers,  sir,  that  is  all."  Former  Senator 
McCarty  of  Kentucky,  also  was  heartily  greeted,  and  former  Judge 
Elbert  H.  Gary  was  slapped  on  the  back  and  told  to  "  look  cheerful/' 
Alfred  Lauterbach  came  in  for  a  strong  grip. 

All  the  handshaking  was  done  by  the  time  the  Androscoggin 
had  got  close  to  Fourteenth  Street  on  the  North  River,  and  then 
Colonel  Roosevelt  made  for  the  captain's  bridge.  The  shores  of 
New  Jersey,  like  those  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  were  black  with 
people,  and  the  noise  of  the  shrieking  steam  whistles  was  deafening. 

Opposite  Fourteenth  Street  it  was  decided  to  turn  back,  instead 
of  going  on  to  Fifty-ninth.  Time  was  passing  and  the  Colonel  was 
due  at  the  Battery  at  1 1  o'clock. 

Punctually  at  1 1  Mr.  Roosevelt  reached  that  place,  left  the  boat 
and  went  to  the  stand  where  Mayor  Gaynor  was  awaiting  him. 
The  Battery  Park  and  surroundings  were  jammed  with  spectators 
and  the  cheers  were  ear-splitting.  Then  calm  was  restored  and 
Mayor  Gaynor  delivered  his  short  address  of  welcome. 

MAYOR  GAYNOR'S  WELCOME. 

Mayor  Gaynor  welcomed  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  words  and  the  Colonel  began  his  reply  imme 
diately.  His  voice  was  a  little  hoarse,  but  he  spoke  with  his  usual 
force  and  declamatory  effect.  A  big  cheer  and  a  loud  laugh  went 
up  when  he  said  with  emphasis:  "  I  enjoyed  myself  immensely." 

Mayor  Gaynor,  in  welcoming  the  Colonel  said :  "  We  are  all 
here  to  welcome  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  New  York.  We  have  watched 
his  progress  through  Europe  with  delight.  Wherever  he  has  gone 
he  has  been  honored  as  a  man  and  as  an  exponent  of  the  principles 
of  the  government  of  this  country.  He  was  received  everywhere 
in  Europe  and  honored  as  no  man  from  this  country  ever  was 
honored.  We  glory  in  all  that,  and  it  only  remains  for  me  to  say 
now,  Colonel  Roosevelt,  that  we  welcome  you  home  most  heartily, 
and  we  are  glad  to  see  you  again." 

Replying  to  Mayor  Gaynor,  the  Colonel  said :  "  I  thank  you, 
Mayor  Gaynor.  Through  you  I  thank  your  committee  and  through 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

them  I  wish  to  thank  the  American  people  for  their  greeting.  I 
need  hardly  say  I  am  most  deeply  moved  by  the  reception  given 
me.  No  man  could  receive  such  a  greeting  without  being  made  to 
feel  both  very  proud  and  very  humble. 

"  I  have  been  away  a  year  and  a  quarter  from  America  and  I 
have  seen  strange  and  interesting  things  alike  in  the  heart  of  the 
frowning  wilderness  and  in  the  capitals  of  the  mightiest  and  most 
highly  polished  of  civilized  nations.  I  have  thoroughly  enjoyed 
myself,  and  now  I  am  more  glad  than  I  can  say  to  get  home,  to  be 
back  in  my  own  country,  back  among  people  I  love.  And  I  am 
ready  and  eager  to  do  my  part  so  far  as  I  am  able  in  helping  solve 
problems  which  must  be  solved  if  we  of  this,  the  greatest  democratic 
Republic  upon  which  the  sun  has  ever  shone,  are  to  see  its  destinies 
rise  to  the  high  level  of  our  hopes  and  its  opportunities. 

DUTY  OF  CITIZENS. 

"  This  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen,  but  it  is  peculiarly  my  duty; 
for  any  man  who  has  ever  been  honored  by  being  made  President  of 
the  United  States  is  thereby  forever  after  rendered  the  debtor  of  the 
American  people  and  is  bound  throughout  his  life  to  remember  this 
as  his  prime  obligation,  and  in  private  life  as  much  as  in  public  life 
so  to  carry  himself  that  the  American  people  may  never  have  cause 
to  feel  regret  that  once  they  placed  him  at  their  head." 

After  the  brief  exercises  at  the  Battery  the  land  parade  started. 
Because  of  the  great  number  of  organizations  from  all  over  the 
country  that  wanted  to  march,  the  parade  was  limited  to  little  more 
than  an  escort.  A  selection  was  made,  therefore,  and  these  bodies 
were  lined  up  on  both  sides  of  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  parade  was  led  by  a  squadron  of  mounted  police,  followed 
by  the  Squadron  A  mounted  band.  The  Roosevelt  Rough  Riders, 
who  were  holding  their  first  reunion  since  1905,  came  next,  escort 
ing  their  former  Colonel. 

The  Rough  Riders  had  assembled  under  Colonel  Alexander  A. 
Brodie,  who  was  a  major  in  the  old  regiment.  The  men  came  from 
all  over  the  country,  though  mostly  from  the  West.  Colonel  Brodie 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

is  now  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  regular  army  station  at  St.  Paul, 
in  the  adjutant  general's  office.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty 
former  members  of  the  regiment  rode  in  the  parade,  wearing  new 
uniforms,  but  carrying  the  tattered  old  battle  flags.  The  Abernathy 
boys,  who  came  all  the  way  from  Oklahoma  on  horseback,  were  in 
the  parade. 

The  Colonel's  carriage  followed  immediately  behind  the  Rough 
Riders.  Mayor  Gaynor  and  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  were  with  him. 
In  the  carriages  immediately  following  were  the  representatives  of 
the  President  and  the  various  States.  The  committee  of  the  New 
York  Senate  and  Assembly  occupied  five  carriages.  The  three 
hundred  members  of  the  reception  committee  followed,  and  after 
them  marched  the  Seventh  Regiment  Band  of  one  hundred  pieces. 

A  high  tribute  was  paid  to  Theodore  Roosevelt  by  Governor 
John  Franklin  Fort,  who  addressed  a  throng  of  Freemasons  at  the 
ceremonies  of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  for  the  first  Masonic 
Temple  in  East  Orange.  He  declared  that  the  ex-President  was 
an  ideal  Mason  and  the  leading  citizen  of  the  world. 

GREATEST  CITIZEN  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  Governor  offered  his  eulogy  by  a  coincidence  from  the 
very  platform  from  which  a  week  previous  he  had  roused  the  en 
thusiasm  of  another  crowd,  by  calling  for  three  cheers  for  Roosevelt 
and  leading  them  with  a  will.  The  Governor  alluded  to  the  time 
when  the  Fredericksburg  Lodge  of  Masons  in  Virginia  celebrated 
its  sesquicentennial.  Roosevelt,  then  President  of  the  United 
States,  addressed  the  celebrants,  but  in  the  lodge  he  was  not  "  The 
President,"  but  just  "  Brother  Roosevelt." 

"  I  say  to-day  that  that  same  man  is  the  greatest  citizen  of  the 
Republic,"  said  the  Governor.  "  He  is  the  greatest  citizen  of  the 
world,  and  recognized  as  such,  I  believe,  in  every  nation.  I  thought 
of  that  occasion  at  Fredericksburg  when  to-day  I  saw  500,000  pay 
ing  such  a  glorious  tribute  to  one  single  man." 

Fully  a  million  and  a  half  people  stood  and  waited  for  the 
moment  when,  in  ship,  or  in  carriage,  the  returning  Roosevelt  should 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

come  within  their  field  of  vision,  and  when  he  did  the  noise  broke 
loose.  Bands  blared,  cannon  roared,  and  sirens  screamed,  but 
above  their  din  rose  the  steady  continuous  thunder  of  human  wel 
come. 

"  Oh,  you  Roosevelt,"  "  Good  Old  Teddy  !"  rang  the  five  mile 
chorus,  and  through  it  all  he  rode  bareheaded,  flushed  with  the 
pride  of  hero-worship,  bowing  to  right  and  left,  picking  out  here 
and  there  some  enthusiast  for  special  notice,  a  wave  of  the  hand  or 
a  wide  smile. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  is  little  changed  from  the  man  who  sailed 
for  Africa  fifteen  months  ago.  A  little  more  grizzled  perhaps,  as 
to  the  framing  of  his  upper  lip,  a  trifle  heavier  in  the  shoulders  from 
the  muscle  forming  strenuousness  of  big  game  hunting. 

HE'S  THE  SAME  OLD  ROOSEVELT. 

But  the  flat  topped  head  was  flung  back  as  defiantly  as  when  of 
old  he  faced  an  audience,  the  glistening  teeth  flashed  as  brightly 
under  the  gold  rimmed  glasses,  the  blue  gray  eyes  smiled  out  with  the 
same  magnetic  brilliancy  and  the  stubby  sun-scorched  fingers  gripped 
in  handshake  with  all  the  tensity  of  yore. 

Ideal  weather  marked  the  passing  of  the  show.  "  Roosevelt 
luck,"  his  admirers  called  it,  and  not  until  the  parade  had  disbanded 
and  Rough  Riders  and  Spanish  War  Veterans  had  dispersed  did  the 
sky  open  its  flood  gates  and  drench  the  streets  with  a  furious  down 
pour.  But  Roosevelt  Day  was  over  then  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
and  the  crash  of  thunder  and  blaze  of  lightning  were  deemed  by 
many  to  be  only  the  closing  salute  of  the  clouds. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  may  well  have  felt  a  deep  inward  satisfaction 
at  the  quality  of  his  welcome  home.  There  were  the  parades  on 
land  and  sea,  there  were  the  crowds,  the  shouting  and  the  bands, 
there  was,  moreover,  that  sincere  heartiness  of  greeting  without 
which  all  these  ceremonies  would  have  been  but  a  hollow  formality. 
No  circumstance  appropriate  to  a  triumphal  re-entry  was  wanting. 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  city  and  Mr.  Roosevelt's  country  rejoice  that  he  has 


NATION  GREETS  COLONEL  ROOSEVELT. 

come  back  safe  and  sound  from  his  voluntary  yet  most  agreeable 
exile. 

Now  that  his  remarkable  journey  has  come  to  an  end,  his  coun 
trymen  will  inevitably  turn  their  thoughts  to  the  future.  They 
wonder  what  part  he  is  to  take  in  their  affairs.  The  conjecture 
that  he  himself  is  thinking  of  the  future  would  not  violently  strain 
the  probabilities,  we  presume.  It  is  one  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  pecu 
liarities  that  he  keeps  thinking  himself,  and  that  he  keeps  others 
thinking. 

He  has  said  that  he  shall  say  nothing  about  politics  for  at  least 
two  months.  That  resolution  was  wise  and  prudent,  no  doubt, 
though  he  may  find  it  hard  to  keep  it  to  the  letter.  It  is  another  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  peculiarities  that  he  is  apt  to  give  the  country  early 
information  of  what  is  going  on  in  his  mind.  It  is  doubtless  safer 
for  him  and  for  the  country  that  this  is  so.  It  tends  to  the  avoidance 
of  surprises  and  gives  time  for  preparation. 


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